34 THE INFtOEESCENCE. 



the arrangement of the separate pieces of the flower upon the stalk. 

 Everywhere else they are disposed in ivhorh, one ring concentrically 

 within another ; but in grasses the pieces stand singly and alternately, 

 one above the other ; close enough, nevertheless, to form a compact 

 enclosure. (Fig. 69.) In every other respect incomplete flowers agree 

 with complete ones ; that is to say, they have stamens and pistils, which 

 (with one or two exceptions) are formed in the same way, and the 

 functions of which are similar, and fulfilled after the same manner. 

 Some of the noblest productions of nature have incomplete flowers ; the 



Fig. 69. 

 Flower of Grass (magnified). 



number of tall and stately plants with flowers so formed far exceeds, 

 indeed, that of the inconspicuous, shewing that we are by no means 

 to confuse the idea of an incomjjlete fiower with that of an imperfect 

 plant. 



The Injlorescenee. 



With the nature of the flower is intimately connected the mode of 

 its evolution from the stem ; in other words, what kind of bunch or 

 cluster it helps to form, or if solitary, how and whereabouts it is placed. 

 This is often exceedingly important to notice. When the individual 

 flowers on a stem or branch are without stalks, they are said, like 

 leaves of the same character, to be " sessile." When provided with 

 little stalks, the latter are called " peduncles," the peduncle being 

 analogous to the petiole of the leaf; and if the pedimcles have still 

 smaller divisions, these last are termed " pedicels." 



The distribution of the flowers upon the stem is called the " inflo- 

 rescence," and is of two general kinds, " solitary" and "clustered," 

 each having several varieties. jMany modifications may be present in 

 the same family, but no plant has more than one kind. The following 

 comprise the most usual and important forms : — 



