OF INFLORESCENCE. 29 



results from the rapid growth of the bud, that the true 

 stem takes the appearance of a branch opposite the 

 leaf; and if the two productions have an equal degree 

 of development, the stem is said to be forked, or, when 

 the same phenomenon is frequently repeated, dicho- 

 tomous. 



4th. When it takes place towards the top of the 

 plant, and the two productions have nearly an equal 

 force, or an equal disposition to flower ; then, according 

 to circumstances often very slight, the inflorescence 

 seems either terminal or opposite the leaves ; and this 

 explains why, in the descriptions of different authors, 

 we so frequently find these two expressions taken the 

 one for the other, especially in the families which I 

 have mentioned. 



§ 2. — Radical Inflorescences. 



Flowers are said to be radical when they seem to 

 spring from the root : but this term ought only to be taken 

 as a simple metaphor ; for the inflorescence never arises 

 anywhere but from the stem. Pedicels having a single 

 flower, or floral branches, which bear several, are said 

 to be radical in some cases ; viz. sometimes, when the 

 stem is very evident, these pedicels arise from the lower 

 axils only, as in Vinca herbacea ; sometimes, when it is 

 so short and level with the surface that it is with diffi- 

 culty distinguished from the root, as in Mandragora, 

 the leaves are very near the neck, and the peduncles 

 arise from their axils ; sometimes, when the stem is 

 entirely subterranean, the leaves are reduced to the 

 state of scales, either fleshy or scarious, and the pe- 

 duncles which spring from their axils proceed from the 

 earth, as if the root gave birth to them (we see this in 



