ARRANGEMENT OF FLOWERS ON THE STEM 
187 
198. The Racemes and Related Forms. — If the leaves 
along the stem were to become very much dwarfed and the 
Fic. 130.— Simple Umbel of Cherry. 
flowers brought closer together, 
as they frequently are, a kind 
of flower-cluster like that of the 
currant (Fig. 129) or the lily- 
of-the-valley would result. Such 
an inflorescence is called a ra- 
ceme; the main flower-stalk is 
known as the peduncle ; the little 
individual flower-stalks are pedi- 
cels, and the small, more or 
less scale-like leaves of the 
peduncle are bracts.1 
Frequently the lower pedicels of a cluster on the 
general plan of the raceme are longer than the upper 
ones and make a some- 
what flat-topped cluster, 
like that of the hawthorn, 22% 
the sheep laurel, or the 
trumpet creeper. ‘This 
is called a corymb. 
In many cases, for ex- 
ample the parsnip, the 
Sweet Cicely, the gin- 
seng, and the cherry, a 
group of pedicels of 
nearly equal length 
Fie. 131.— Catkins of Willow. 
A, staminate flowers ; B, pistillate flowers. 
1It is hardly necessary to say that the teacher will find it better in every 
way, if material is abundant, to begin the study of flower-clusters with the 
examination of typical specimens by the class. 
