194 



BUDS AND BRANCHES 



the terms indefinite, indeterminate, racemose, centripetal, 

 all mean about the same thing ; namely, that the flowers 

 develop with the axis, or from below upward; and the 

 terms definite, determinate, cymose, centrifugal, are em- 

 ployed to denote that the order of inflorescence is contrary 

 to that of the stem growth, and is constantly changing its 

 direction. 



281. Significance of the Clustered Arrangement. As a 



general thing the clustered arrangement marks a higher 

 stage of development than the solitary, just as in human 

 life the rudest social state is a distinct advance upon the 

 isolated condition of the savage. In plant life it is the 

 beginning of a system of cooperation and division of 

 labor among the associated members of the flower cluster, 

 as will be seen later, when we take up the study of the 

 flower. 



PRACTICAL QUESTIONS 



1. Name as many solitary flowers as you can think of. 



2. Do you find very small flowers, as a rule, solitary, or in clusters? 



3. Would the separate flowers of the clover, parsley, or grape, be 

 readily distinguished by the eye from among a mass of foliage? 



4. Should you judge from these facts that it is, in general, advan- 

 tageous to plants for their flowers to be conspicuous? 



FIELD WORK 



The foregoing lessons are themselves so full of suggestions for field 

 work that it hardly seems necessary to add anything to them. 



In connection with Sections 240-248, the characteristic modes of 

 branching of the common trees and shrubs of each neighborhood 

 should be observed and accounted for. The naked branches of the 

 winter woods afford exceptional advantages for studies of this kind, 

 which can not well.be carried on except out of doors. Trees should be 

 selected for observation that have not been pruned or tampered with by 

 man. Note the effect of the mode of branching upon the general out- 

 line of the tree ; compare the direction and mode of growth of the 

 larger boughs with that of small twigs in the same species and see 51 

 there is any general correspondence between them ; note the absence 

 of fine spray on the boughs of large-leaved trees, and account for it. 

 Account for the flat sprays of trees like the elm, beech, hackberry, etc. ; 



