ANGIOSPERMS. -, 



this is the period of maturity. In many species the whole plant dies down when the 

 fruit IS ripe, and a plant of this description is termed mo?wcar/>/c (bearing fruit only 

 once). Monocarpic plants may be distinguished into those which fructify in the 

 first period of vegetation (amma/ plants), those which do not till the second year 

 (dienma/ plants), and finally not till several or a large number of periods of vege- 

 tation (monocarpic perejmial plants, as Agave aviericana). Most Angiosperms are 

 however poly car pi c ; i e. the vital power of the individual is not exhausted by the 

 ripening of the fruit ; the plant continues to grow and periodically fructifies afresh, 

 or is polycarpic and perennial. 



anse 



The Inflorescence. It is comparatively rare for the flowers of Angiosperms to 

 singly at the summit of the primary shoot or in the axils of the leaves; peculiarly 

 developed systems of branching are much more commonly produced at the' end of the 

 primary shoot or in the axils of its foliage-leaves, which usually bear a considerable 

 number of flowers and are distinguished by their collective form from the rest of the 

 vegetative system ; in polycarpic plants these may even be thrown off after the ripening 

 of the fruit. Such a system of branching is termed an hflorescence. The habit of the 

 inflorescence docs not depend merely on the number, form, and size of the flowers which 

 it bears, but also on the length and thickness of the branches of different orders, as well 

 as on the degree of development of the leaves from the axils of which the branches 

 spring. These leaves are generally much simpler in form and smaller than the foliage- 

 leaves ; frequently coloured (/. e. not green) or altogether colourless. They are dis- 

 tinguished as Hypsophyllary Leaves or Bracts ; and in this term are frequently included 

 the small leaves which spring from the pedicels and which often have no axillary 

 shoots {Bracteoles). Leaves of this kind are sometimes entirely absent from the inflor- 

 escence or from certain parts of it ; the ultimate floral axes or pedicels of the flowers 

 are then not axillary, as in Aroideap, Cruciferae, <fec. The most recent investigations by 

 Kaufmann have shown that the very peculiar inflorescence of Borraginese must be 

 the result of dichotomous branching, although ordinary monopodia! axillary branching 

 occurs in their vegetative system. 



A large number of different forms of inflorescence may arise by the combination 

 in different ways of the determining characters already mentioned. Each form is 

 constant in the same species, and is often characteristic of a whole genus or family ; 

 hence the form of the inflorescence often not only determines the habit of the plant, 

 but is also of value in its systematic classification. 



The most convenient basis for the classification of the forms of inflorescence is the 

 mode of branching. This is less variable than the other features, and can be referred 

 to a few types; it also affords distinctive characters for the principal groups, which 

 might then be further sub-divided according to the length and thickness of the separate 

 axes and other points. 



With reference to the mode of branching, the first point to observe is that every 

 inflorescence originates from the normal terminal branching of a growing axis ; the 

 mode of branching is always monopodial in Angiosperms with the exception of the cases 

 mentioned under Division 14; i.e. the branches arise laterally beneath the apex of 

 the growing mother-shoot. If the leaves on this shoot (the bracts) are conspicuously 

 developed, the lateral axes arise in their axils ; if they are inconspicuous or abortive, the 

 lateral axes of the inflorescence are not axillary, but their mode of branching and 

 growth remain the same as if the bracts were present ; and it is usual, in framing the 

 divisions, not to lay great stress on this circumstance. But the presence of bracts is of 

 great practical value, since it assists in the recognition of the true mode of branching 

 even in the mature inflorescence, inasmuch as the axillary shoot is always lateral. 

 When the bracts are absent it is however often difficult to distinguish a lateral from a 



