CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE 



FLOWERS AND FLOWER CLUSTERS 



The flower is a specialized shoot in which the reproductive 

 processes, pollination and fertilization, lead to the production of 



A IfB i C ifD " E n F 



Fig. 134. Diagrams illustrating terms applied to flower clusters: A, corymb; B, head; 

 C, compound umbel; D, head with disk and ray flowers; E, umbel; and F, spadix. 



seed. Commonly the word " flower " is associated with the 

 brightly colored parts that make many of our garden and house 

 plants so attractive. But here we shall include under the term 

 the simple structures associated with seed production in plants 

 like the grasses, poplars, and birches, that have merely scale-like 

 leaves and bracts inclosing the reproductive parts. In the conifers 



Fig. 135. Diagrams illustrating terms applied to flower clusters: A, spike; 



B, catkin; C, raceme; D, panicle. 



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