Definition of "caudicle" [cau•di•cle]

• A slender, elastic process to which the masses of pollen in orchidaceous plants are attached. (noun)

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• "With respect to the second chief peculiarity, namely the little mass of viscid matter attached to the end of the caudicle, a long series of gradations can be specified, each of plain service to the plant."
• "From this simple condition, which differs but little from that of a multitude of common flowers, there are endless gradations, —to species in which the pollen-mass terminates in a very short, free caudicle, —to others in which the caudicle becomes firmly attached to the viscid matter, with the sterile stigma itself much modified."
• "In some orchids there is no caudicle to the pollen-masses, and the grains are merely tied together by fine threads; but as these are not confined to orchids, they need not here be considered; yet I may mention that at the base of the orchidaceous series, in Cypripedium, we can see how the threads were probably first developed."