Bot. [ad. L. cauliculus, dim. of caulis stalk.] A little stalk or stem; spec. a. ‘the initial stalk or stem in an embryo, the radicle’ (Gray); b. a small stem proceeding from a bud formed at the neck of a root, without the previous production of a leaf; c. the stipe of certain fungals.
1657. Phys. Dict., Caulicles, little stalks.
1880. Gray, Struct. Bot., ii. 10. Caulicle or Radicle. Ibid., iii. 40. The initial stem, the caulicle.
1882. Vines, Sachs’ Bot., 448. The foot (caulicle) of the young plant [Salvinia].
