BRACTS OR FLORAL LEAVES. 165 



1 Peduncles simple. 



a. of equal or nearly equal length. 



Raceme (Currant, Hyacinth). 



b. lowermost longest. 



Centripetal expansion Corymb (Ornithogalum) 

 Centrifugal expansion Fascicle (Pink). 

 2. Peduncles branched. 



Panicle (Poa), Thyrsus (Lilac), Anthela (Luzula), Compound Ra- 

 ceme (Plane-tree), Compound Corymb (Milfoil). 

 II. Floral Axis shortened or depressed. 



1. Expansion centripetal. 



a. Peduncles very short, Flowers forming a close head. 



Glomerulus (Armerin, Scabious). 



b. Peduncles nearly equal, radiating from a common centre. 



Peduncles simple Simple Umbel (Astrantia, Ramsons). 

 Peduncles branched Compound Umbel (Hemlock). 



2. Expansion centrifugal. 



a. Peduncles simple Verticillaster (Lamium). 



b. Peduncles branched Cyme (Elder). 



2. BRACTS OR FLORAL LEAVES. 



344. Flowers, with the exception of the terminal flower, arise from 

 the axil of leaves, called Bractece, bracts or floral leaves. The term 

 bract is properly applied to the leaf, from which the primary floral 

 axis, whether simple or branched, arises, while the leaves which arise 

 on the axis between the bract and the outer envelope of the flower 

 are bracteoles or bractlets. The two are distinct, but are often used 

 indiscriminately in ordinary descriptions. Bracts sometimes do not 

 differ from the ordinary leaves, and are then called leafy, as in Ajuga. 

 Like leaves, they are either entire or divided. In general, as regards 

 their form and appearance, they differ from the ordinary leaves of the 

 plants, this difference being greater in the upper than in the lower 

 branches of an inflorescence. They are distinguished by their position 

 at the base of the flower or flower-stalk. When the flower is sessile, 

 the bracts are often applied closely to the calyx, and may thus be con- 

 founded with it. 



345. When bracts become coloured as in Amherstia nobilis, Eu- 

 phorbia splendens, and Salvia splendens, they may be mistaken for 

 parts of the corolla. They are sometimes mere scales or threads, and 

 at other times they are abortive, and remain undeveloped, giving rise 

 to the ebracteated inflorescence of Cruciferae and some Boraginacea?. 

 Sometimes flower-buds are not produced in their axil, and then they 

 are empty. A series of empty coloured bracts terminates the inflores- 

 cence in Salvia Horminum. The smaller bracts or bracteoles, which 

 occur among the subdivisions of a branching inflorescence, often produce 

 no flower-buds, and thus anomalies occur in the floral arrangements. 



346. Bracts are occasionally persistent, remaining long attached to 



