j62 BEGINNERS' BOTANY 



lias come to be used in works on descriptive botany for 

 the jlower-dusier itself. Thus a cyme or a panicle may be 

 called an inflorescence. It will be seen that even solitary 

 flowers follow either indeterminate or determinate methods 

 of branching. 



The flower-stem. — The stem of a solitary flower is 

 known as a peduncle; also the general stem of 2i flower- 

 cluster. The stem of the individual flower in a cluster is 

 a pedicel. In the so-called stemless plants the peduncle 

 may arise directly from the ground, or crown of the plant, 

 as in dandelion, hyacinth, garden daisy ; this kind of 

 peduncle is called a scape. A scape may bear one or 

 many flowers. It has no foliage leaves, but it may have 

 bracts. 



Suggestions. — 166. Name six columns in your notebook as 

 follows : spike, raceme, corymb, umbel, cyme, solitary. Write 

 each of the following in its appropriate column : larkspur, grape, 

 rose, wistaria, onion, bridal wreath, banana, hydrangea, phlox, 

 China berry, lily-of-the-valley, Spanish dagger (or yucca), sorghum, 

 tuberose, hyacinth, mustard, goldenrod, peach, hollyhock, mul- 

 lein, crepe myrtle, locust, narcissus, snapdragon, peppergrass, 

 shepherd's purse, coxcomb, wheat, hawthorn, geranium, carrot, 

 elder, millet, dogwood, castor bean ; substitute others for plants 

 that do not grow in your region. 167. In the study of flower- 

 clusters, it is well to choose first those that are fairly typical of the 

 various classes discussed in the preceding paragraphs. As soon 

 as the main types are well fixed in the mind, random clusters 

 should be examined, for the pupil must never receive tlie impres- 

 sion that all flower-chisters follow the definitions in books. Clus- 

 ters of some of the commonest plants are very puzzling, but the 

 pupil should at least be able to discover whether the inflorescence 

 is determinate or indetermiaate. Figures 221 to 223 illustrate the 

 theoretical modes of iufiorescence. The numerals indicate the order 

 of opening. 



