A bristle-like appendage or awn on a grain or grass seed; the long, hair-like projection at the tip of a grain.
From Latin arista, meaning 'awn' or 'beard of grain,' derived from Etruscan or early Italian agricultural vocabulary. The term is used in botany and agriculture.
Those delicate whisker-like bristles on wheat or barley seeds—aristae—are actually a botanical marvel: they help the seed fly through the air, burrow into soil, and they're so perfectly designed that engineers study them for inspiration.
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