142 REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS. CHAP. Ill, 



in Cytisus Laburnum ; or erect, as in Pyrola 

 minor. 

 Supposed The inflorescence of the Vine was regarded and 



to include . 



the Grape, described by Linnaeus as being a cluster, and con- 

 sequently arranged under this head. But Dr. 

 Smith has now transferred it to the thyrse because 

 its ultimate ramifications are sometimes obscurely 

 umbellate, a character inconsistent, as he thinks, 

 with the cluster, but not so with the thyrse. What- 

 ever may be the value of this observation, the in- 

 florescence of the Vine comes evidently much 

 nearer to the thyrse, in its general habit, than 

 to the cluster, and seems to be arranged with more 

 propriety under the former than under the latter. 



SUBSECTION VII. 



Descrip- The Corymb. The corymb (PL V. Fig. 7-) is an 

 mdiTca- assemblage of flowers supported upon peduncles 

 issuing from a common axis, as in the spike, but 

 having the peduncles so proportioned in length as 

 to be of an equal height, and the flowers conse- 

 quently so placed as to be nearly on a level. The 

 inflorescence of Spircea opulifolia, a shrub common 

 in our gardens, affords a good example of the 

 corymb, which is said to be simple if the peduncles 

 are simple, as in Arabis Turrit a ; and compound 

 if the peduncles are divided, as in Iberis amara. 



tions. 



