BECBEATIYE SCIMCE. 



817 



spring, might be greatly diminislied in size 

 might be dwindled down to little more than, 

 scales, and the peduncles might be short- 

 ened; in which case we should have such 

 a form of flower arrangement as we see at 

 Fig. 54, forming what is called a raceme. 

 The raceme is one of those most common 

 forms of inflorescence, and may be erect (as 

 in Fig. 54), or drooping, as in the currant 

 (Fig. 55). Now suppose, instead of these little 

 pedicels of the raceme blossoms being all the 

 same length, we have the upper or central 

 ones short, and the lower or outer ones pro- 

 longed so as to bring the blossoms nearly to 



Fia. 55.— Sprig of Common Currant, 

 pendent raceme. 



Blossoms in a 



the same level, we have a corymb, as in 

 the bramble (see Fig. 29, p. 125) ; but if we 

 take a corymb, and, as it were, draw it out 

 from the centre, we again get the raceme — a 

 change of form of inflorescence which actu- 

 ally occurs in the floral development of such 

 plants as the wallflower and other crucifers, 

 only that in these cases the little scales, or 

 bracts, necessary to the true raceme, are want- 

 ing. Once more let us have all our pedicels 

 springing from one point, and we have the 

 true umbel (Fig. 30, p. 125), which may be 

 simple, or, as in the figure, compound, the 

 secondaryumbelsof the compound form being 

 named umbellules, or little umbels. As al- 



ready alluded to, it is only requisite to con- 

 centrate the flowers of the umbel to get the 

 head of the composite. "When a raceme, still 

 retaining the raceme character, becomes 

 branched, we get the panicle, which is the 

 common flowering form of most of the grasses 



Fig. 56. — Panicled Inflorescence of Grass. 



(Fig. 56), difiering, however, greatly in the 

 compactness or difi*usenes3 of its arrange- 

 ment. Many grasses, such as wheat, bar- 

 ley, darnel-grass, etc., have the true spiked 

 form of flowering, each spike being made 

 up of numerous spikelets (locusta?), and 

 these, as we shall see when we come to 



