THE CYME 



137 



umbel. But in the indeterminate inflorescence, such as the 

 raceme, corymb, and umbel, the order of flowering is from below 

 upward, or from the outside of the cluster inward, because the 

 lowest or the outermost flowers are the oldest, while in deter- 

 minate forms of inflorescence the central flower is the oldest, 



FIG. 148. Compound cyme of mouse-ear chickweed 

 t, the terminal (oldest) flower 



and therefore the order of blossoming is from the center out- 

 wards. Cymes are very commonly compound, like those of 

 the elder and of many plants of the pink family, such as the 

 sweet william and the mouse-ear chickweed (Fig. 148). They 

 may also, as already mentioned, be panicled, thus making a 

 cluster much like Fig. 147, A. 



