Feather These barbules have minute hooks called barbicels for cross-attachment. Down feathers are fluffy because they lack barbicels, so the barbules float free of each other, allowing the down to trap air and provide excellent thermal insulation. At the base of the feather, the rachis expands to form the hollow tubular "calamus" (or quill) which inserts into a follicle in the skin. The basal part of the calamus is without vanes. This part is embedded within the skin follicle and has an opening at the base (proximal umbilicus) and a small opening on the side (distal umbilicus). Hatchling birds of some
Rachis achieved pachytene and are attached to the walls of the gonadal tube. The rachis is filled with cytoplasm. In plants, a "rachis" is the main axis of a compound structure. It can be the main stem of a compound leaf, such as in "Acacia" or ferns, or the main, flower-bearing portion of an inflorescence above a supporting peduncle. A ripe head of wild-type wheat is easily shattered into dispersal units when touched or blown by the wind. A series of layers forms that divides the rachis into dispersal units consisting of a small group of flowers (a single spikelet) attached