OF THE INFLORESCENCE. 1 8 I 



cUffiisa, a lax or spreading panicle, as in Saxifraga 

 umbrosa, t. ,663, so frequent in gardens under the 

 name of London Pride, and S. Geum, t. 1561, but 

 particularly in many grasses, as the common culti- 

 vated Oat, and Avena strigosa, t. 1266; in this 

 tribe the branches of the panicle are mostly semi- 

 verticillate ; see Aim aquatica, t. 1557. A divari- 

 cated panicle is still more spreading, like those of 

 Prenanthes muralis, t. 457, and Spergula arvensis, 

 t. 1535 ; the last being dichotomous or forked. A 

 dense or crowded panicle, coarctata, is observable 

 in Milium lendigcrum, t. 1107, and Agrostis stolo- 

 nifera, t. 1532, but still more remarkably in Phleum 

 panlculatum, t. 1077, whose inflorescence looks, at 

 first sight, like a cylindrical spike, but when bent to 

 either side, it separates into branched lobes, con- 

 stituting a real panicle. 



THYRSUS,/! 14 1 , a Bunch, is a dense or close panicle, 

 more or less of an ovate figure, of which the Lilac, 

 Suringa vulgaris. Curt. Mag. t. 183, Tusslla^o 



*J o O O Z3 



hybrida and Petasites, EngL Bot. t. 430, 431, are 

 examples cited by Linnaeus. I presume likewise to 

 consider a bunch of grapes, Vltis vinifera, as a 

 true thyrsus, to the characters and appearance of 

 which it correctly answers. Its ultimate terminations 

 are sometimes obscurely umbellate, especially while 

 in blossom, which is no objection here, but can 



