ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION. 199 



Fig. 392. Fig. 393. 



Ff'fir. 302. Pistillate amentum or catkin of a 



species of Willow [SalLc) Fig. 393. 



Staminate amentum of Willow. 



bracts, and the whole inflores- 

 cence usually falls otf in one 

 piece, soon after flowering, or 

 fruiting; this is especially the case 

 with the staminiferous-flowered 

 catkin. All plants with this kind 

 of inflorescence are called amen- 

 taceous or amentiferous. Our 

 trees afford us numerous ex- 

 amples, as the Oak, the Willow, 

 the Birch, the Poplar, the Wal- 

 nut, &c. 



c. The Spadix is a spike with a 

 succulent axis, in which the in- 

 dividual flowers have no bracts, 

 but the whole inflorescence is 

 enclosed in a long bract called a 

 spathe. This is well seen in the 

 Cuckow-pint {Arum maculatuvt') 

 {fig. 380). When a spadix 

 branches, as in Palms {fig. 394), 

 it is called compound or branch- 

 ing. The term spadix is also 

 frequently applied to a succulent 

 spike, whether enveloped in a 

 spathe or not. 



d. The Locusfa orSpikelet. — This 

 name is applied to the partial 

 inflorescence of Grasses {fig. 382) 

 and Cyperaceous plants. 



o i 



J- .^ Fig. 394. Branched spadix of a Palm 

 it is a _ (Chamaerops). 



