THE INFLORESCENCE, AND THE FLOWER 227 



families, giving rise to modifications of the raceme or panicle sometimes 

 described as corymbose. 



If, however, intercalary growth be reduced both in the peduncle and the 

 pedicels, all the flowers will appear aggregated in a dense head. The axis 

 of the whole inflorescence is then usually enlarged into a general receptacle, 

 upon which numerous flowers are seated. Such an inflorescence is called a 

 Capitulum (Fig. 170, E). It is characteristic of the Compositae. Here again 



FIG. 174. 

 Inflorescence of the Vine : a panicle. (After Figuier.) 



the bracts form a general involucre protecting the whole head, while a bracteole 

 normally subtends each flower borne on the receptacle (Fig. 1 77). But as these 

 are closely packed, they must mutually protect one another. The bracteoles 

 are then superfluous, and are often absent, as they are in the Oxeye Daisy 

 and the Dandelion (Fig. 234, p. 290). Similar capitula are found in the Sheep's 

 Bit (Jasione] among the Campanulaceae, and in the Teasel and Scabious 

 among the Dipsaceae. It is in fact a character recurrent in several distinct 

 families, though it finds its headquarters in the Compositae. Its biological 

 effect is that an inflorescence acts functionally in the same way as a single 

 flower. 



