152 



INFLORESCENCE OR ANTHOTAXIS. 



numerous flowers, as in the Artichoke, Daisy, and Fig. In these cases 

 it is called a Receptacle or Phoranthium ((popa, I bear, and udog, 

 flower), or Clinanthium (xx/i/w, a bed, and &>?, flower). 



327. The Floral axis sometimes assumes a leaf-like arphyHoid(9fa*or, 

 a leaf, and i'/So?, form) appearance, bearing numerous flowers at its 

 margin, as in Xylophylla longifolia (fig. 229), and in Ruscus; or it 

 appears as if formed by several peduncles united together so as to be- 

 come a fasciated axis, as in the Cockscomb (fig. 230), in which the 



flowers form a pecu- 

 liar crest at the apex 

 of the flattened pe- 

 duncles. Adhesions 

 take place between 

 the peduncle and the 

 bracts or leaves of 

 the plant, as in the 

 Lime tree, Helwingia, 

 Chailletia, several 

 species of Hibiscus, 

 and in Zostera. The 

 adhesion of the pe- 

 duncles to the stem 

 accounts for the 

 extra-axillary posi- 

 tion of flowers, as 

 in many Solanaceae ; 

 when this union ex- 

 tends for a consider- 

 able length along the 

 stem, several leaves 

 may be interposed 

 between the part 

 where the peduncle 

 becomes free, and the 

 leaf whence it ori- 

 ginated, and it maybe 

 difficult to trace the 

 connection. 



328. The peduncle occasionally becomes abortive, and in place of 

 bearing a flower, is transformed into a tendril (^f 201); at other times 



Fig. 228. Wstilliferous plant of Vallisneria spiralis, shewing spiral peduncles or flower-stalks, 

 l>y the uncoiling of which the flowers reach the surface of the water previous to fertilization. 



Fig. 229. Leaf-like (phylloid) flattened peduncle, r, of Xylophylla longifolia. ///, Clusters 

 of flowers developed in a centrifugal or cymose manner. 



Fig. 230. Upper part of flattened or fasciated flowering stem of Celosia cristata (Cockscomb), 

 having the form of a crest, covered with pointed bracts, and supporting flowers on its summit. 



