ORGANS OF EEPRODDCTION. 



203 



other kinds of indefinite inflorescence, the flowers open first at 

 the base and last at the apex, or centripetally. 



Besides the true cyme and its varieties mentioned above, other 

 kinds have also received particular names, as the Helicoid Cyme, 

 the Fascicle, the Grlomerule, and the Verticillaster ; these we 

 must now briefly describe. 



b. Helicoid or Scorpioid Cyme. — This is a kind of cyme in 

 which the flowers are only developed on one side, and in which 

 the upper extremity is more or less coiled up in a circinate or 

 spiral manner, so as frequently to resemble a snail, or the tail of 

 a scorpion, and hence the names of helicoid or scorpioid by which 

 such a cyme is distinguished. It is also sometimes called a 

 circinate or gyrate cyme. These cymes are especially developed 



Fig. 414. 



Fig. 414. Scoi-pioid cyme of Cotufrey {Symphytum officinale). 



in the Boraginacese, as in the Forget-me-not {Myosotis pahistris) 

 {fig. 413), and in the Comfrey {Symphytum) {fig. 414). In these 

 plants the leaves are alternate : but such a cyme may also occur 

 in opposite leaved plants, and the manner in which it is com- 

 monly believed to be formed in the two cases, is as follows : — 

 Thus, in plants in which the leaves or bracts are opposite, 

 it arises by the regular non-development of the axes on 

 one side, while those on the other side are as regularly pro- 

 duced. This will be readily explained by a reference to the 

 diagram [fig. 415). Here a represents the flower which termi- 

 nates the primary axis ; at its base are two bracts, only one of 

 which developes a secondary axis h, which is in like manner 

 terminated by a flower, at the base of which are also two bracts, 



