306 MORPHOLOGY. 



inflorescences in particular families, to investigate minutely their com- 

 position from simple inflorescences ; and it is found more pleasant to make 

 a collective word, which may then be defined a little closer (although 

 very superficially) by a few adjectives. To this want of profundity we 

 owe the catalogue of sins of synonymy* ; since in the total want of 

 scientific ground for such modes of naming, every one has an equal right 

 to assert his imaginary wisdom. 



140, Both peduncle and pedicel may fall off soon after the 

 development of the flower (p. caducus), e. g. the male flowers of 

 Salix, &c., or with the ripe fruit (p. deciduus), e. g. in Cerasus 

 avium ; or remain upon the axis after the ripening of the fruit 

 and scattering of the seed (p. persistens), e. g. Aquilegia vulgaris ; 

 or even become altered in various ways by growth, during the 

 ripening of the fruit (p. excrescens), e. g. Anacardium, Hovenia 

 dulcis, &c. 



That each part of a plant may endure for a shorter or longer period, 

 may remain in connection with the entire structure for a shorter or 

 longer time, and undergo alteration in various ways subsequently to its 

 first appearance, is not peculiar to the peduncle and pedicel ; and, instead 

 of saying this once and for all, it is superfluously repeated for every part 

 in botanical manuals, as though there were a lack of matter. In the 

 study of the inflorescence, however, a special import has been at- 

 tached to this universal property, and the spica and amentum have been 

 distinguished according to it. The three first conditions do not belong 

 at all to morphology, but are vital phenomena ; the last is referable to the 

 morphology of the axial organs, not of the inflorescence. But I was 

 obliged to mention the matter here to prevent obscurity in the following 

 review of the kinds of inflorescence usually admitted. 



141. It is dependent on some peculiarities connected with the 

 vitality of the plant, the causes of which are unfortunately still 

 quite unknown to us, and can only be perceived as special proper- 

 ties, that sometimes this, sometimes that, portion of the whole plant, 

 but in a specifically regular course, is advanced in growth and 

 development toward perfection. This is seen in the flower-buds, 

 which open and blow in regular procession, according to definite 

 laws. On the simple axis only, the following conditions occur : 



1. The unfolding of the flowers follows the order of their age. 

 The older flowers, lying undermost, bloom first ; and the upper ones 

 gradually follow. This is termed a centripetal inflorescence (in- 



florescentia centripeta). It occurs in Philadelphus, Isotoma axillaris. 



2. The unfolding of the flowers follows the reverse order, so 

 that the upper and latest-formed buds open first, and the older 

 ones follow in regular course. This is termed a centrifugal in- 

 florescence (iiifl. centrifuga)-, it occurs in Clematis integrifolia, 

 Saxifraga, &c. 



* The v;inity of wishing to be referred to is the parent of most useless words ; and 

 this disease will not come to an end until the catalogue of synonymes is understood to 

 be a botanical pillory, wherein a man becomes abased lower for every time he stands in 

 it : then people will be careful of making new words, without sufficient scientific 

 grounds. Of such men as Robert Brown I am not afraid ; for those people always 

 make the most new words who are least capable of doing actual work in science. 



