OF THE INFLORESCENCE. 239 



Fitis vinifera, as a true thyrsus, to the 

 characters and appearance of which it cor- 

 rectly answers. Its ultimate terminations 

 are sometimes obscurely umbellate, espe- 

 cially while in blossom, which is no ob- 

 jection here, but can never be the case in 

 a racemus, whether simple or compound. 

 See Racemus. 



Of simple flower-stalks, whether solitary 

 or clustered, radical or cauline, axillary, 

 lateral or terminal, we have already spoken. 



Linnaeus remarks that the most elegant 



O 



specific characters are taken from the in- 

 florescence. Thus the Apple, Engl. Bot. 

 t. 179? ftnd the Pear, form two species of 

 Pyrus, so far at least a most natural genus, 

 the former of which bears an umbel, the 

 latter a corymb. Pyrola uniflora, t. 14(5, 

 secunda, t. 517, and umbellata, Curt. Mag. 

 t. 778, are-admirably distinguished by their 

 several forms of inflorescence. 



