STRUCTURE.] PEDUNCLE SCAPE EACHIS AXIS. 317 



branch by not producing perfect leaves ; those which are 

 found upon it, called bracts, being much reduced in size and 

 figure from what are borne by the rest of the plant. 



The normal position of the inflorescence is axillary to a 

 leaf, the necessary consequence of its being a kind of branch- 

 ing. But in some plants, especially of the natural order of 

 Nightshades (Solanacese) it grows apparently opposite the 

 leaves. It is believed by some botanists that cases of such 

 irregularity are caused by the peduncle, which is axillary to 

 a leaf, contracting an adhesion with the internode above it, 

 and not separating till it is opposite the succeeding leaf; but 

 this is not supported by conclusive evidence. Mowers of 

 this kind are called oppositifolii. 



The term peduncle, although it may be understood to apply 

 to all the parts of the inflorescence which bear the flowers, is 

 practically only made use of to denote the immediate support 

 of a single solitary flower, or of the whole mass of inflores- 

 cence, and is therefore confined to that part of the inflores- 

 cence which first proceeds from the stem. If it is divided, 

 its principal divisions are called branches ; and its ultimate 

 ramifications, which bear the flowers, are named pedicels. 

 There are also other names which are applied to its modifica- 

 tions. In plants which are destitute of stem, it often rises 

 above the ground, supporting the flowers on its apex, as in 

 the Cowslip ; such a peduncle is named a scape (hampe, Fr.) 

 Some botanists uselessly distinguish from the scape the 

 pedunculus radicalis, confining the former term to the pe- 

 duncle which arises from the central bud of the plant, as in 

 the Hyacinth ; and applying the latter to a peduncle pro- 

 ceeding from a lateral bud, as in Plantago media. When a 

 peduncle proceeds in a nearly right line from the base to the 

 apex of the inflorescence, it is called the rachis, or the axis 

 of the inflorescence. This latter term was used by Palisot 

 de Beauvois to express the rachis of Grasses, and is perhaps 

 the better term of the two, especially as the term rachis is 

 applied by Willdenow and others to the petiole and midrib of 

 Ferns. In the spikelets of Grasses the rachis has an unusual, 

 toothed, flexuose appearance, and has received the name of 

 scobina from Dumortier; if it is reduced to a mere bristle, as 



