OF INFLORESCENCE. L 2l 



possess some advantage, in ray opinion, because it would 

 make known the nature as well as the appearance of 

 this disposition. 



Lastly, the same naturalist proposes to call Glome- 

 RULE (glomerulus) those cymes which are so contracted 

 that their ramification is scarcely apparent, appealing 

 at first sight to be true capitula ; but they differ, be- 

 cause the flowering commences at the centre instead of 

 the circumference. This disposition, less frequent than 

 that of true capitula, is observed in Corymbium and 

 some other Composite. Cardojiatum and the Euphor- 

 biums have the flowers in glomerules which are dis- 

 posed in cymes. 



In all the inflorescences which I have pointed out, 

 the central flower of each ramification always expands 

 before those which terminate the branches situated 

 above it ; so that, where the flowers are near together 

 in a fascicle or glomerule, or corymbiform or umbelli- 

 form cyme, the flowering proceeds from the centre to 

 the circumference, and the evolution, for this reason, 

 has been called Centrifugal by Rceper. 



When centrifugal inflorescences are reduced to a 

 single flower, it seems impossible to distinguish them 

 from the one-flowered pedicels of indefinite inflores- 

 cences ; but there are almost always means of recog- 

 nising them ; and, in particular, the pedicels of the 

 indefinite have only one bract at their base ; those of 

 terminal inflorescences have two opposite ones, and 

 sometimes a third lateral one, when the cymes them- 

 selves arise from its axil. 



Notwithstanding the extreme difference which is 

 found between the two systems we have explained, there 

 are numerous cases where the two modes are combined 

 in the same plants ; we now proceed to examine this 

 in the following section under the name of Mixed Inflo- 

 rescences. 



