PARTS OF FLOWERS. 



as to be entirely detached after inflorescence, as, for example, in 

 the flowers of the willow, elm, beech, oak, &c., it is called a cat- 

 kin ; when all the flowers are borne upon a common peduncle, 

 irregularly branched, 

 they are termed a 

 cluster, as in the 

 horse-chestnut ; when 

 flowers are arranged 

 on the stem similarly 

 to a cluster, but have 

 the secondary divi- 

 sions very much elon- 

 gated and widely se- 

 parated from each 

 other, they form a 

 panicle, as in the 

 male flowers of the 

 maize or Indian corn ; 

 thyrsus is a sort of 

 cluster, the axis of 

 which is much elon- 

 gated, and the branch- 

 es of which, in parti- 

 cular, have the same 



arrangement as the assemblage of the cluster, 

 as in the lilac and vine; a corymb is where all 

 the flowers, the peduncles of which with their 

 ramifications arise from the upper part of the 

 stem, at different points, and reach to nearly the 

 same height, as in the milfoil; when the peduncles 

 are of equal lengths and arise from the same point, diverging and 

 ramifying in a uniform manner so that the assemblage of flowers 

 presents an arched surface like the top of an extended parasol, 

 we have an umbel, as in the carrot, parsley, hemlock, &c. (fig. 

 156) ; we give the name of capital to an assemblage of a con- 

 siderable number of little flowers upon a common receptacle, that 

 is wider than the summit of the peduncle, and surrounded by a 

 particular involucre, as in the artichoke, milk-thistle (fig- 80), 

 the marigold (fig 153), the sunflower, &c. ; capitals are often 

 designated under the name of compound or composite flowers, 

 because at first sight the assemblage of all the flowers borne 

 upon a common peduncle appear to form only one and the same 

 flower. 



22. The flower itself is ordinarily composed of two series of 

 organs, namely, (1.) the essential parts, which occupy the centre, 



Fig. 80. A CAPITAL. 



Fig. 79. 



A SPIKE. 



22. How is a flower composed ? 



