BUDS AND BRANCHES 141 
III. THE BRANCHING OF FLOWER STEMS 
Mareriau. — Typical flower clusters illustrating the definite and 
indefinite modes of inflorescence. Some of those mentioned in the text 
are: — 
Indefinite: hyacinth, shepherd’s purse, wallflower, carrot, lilac, blue 
grass, smartweed (Polygonum), wheat, oak, willow, clover. 
Definite: chickweed, spurge (Zuphorbia), comfrey, dead nettle, etc. 
Any examples illustrating the principal kinds of cluster will answer. 
159. Inflorescence is a term 
used to denote the position and 
arrangement of flowers on the 
stem. It is merely a mode of 
branching, and follows the same 
laws that govern the branching 
of ordinary stems. 
The stalk that bears a flower 
is called the peduncle. In a 
cluster the main axis is the com- 
mon peduncle, and the separate 
flower stalks are pedicels. Asim- 
ple leafless flower stalk that rises 
directly from the ground, like 
those of the dandelion and daffo- 
dil, is called a scape (Fig. 165). Pre aoa ied pala, 7 teeaaiGet 
160. Two kinds of inflores- 
cence. — The growth of flower stems, like that of leaf stems, 
is of two principal kinds, definite and 
indefinite, or, as it is frequently ex- 
pressed, determinate and indetermi- 
nate. The simplest kind of each is 
ae 166. —Indeterminate the solitary, a single flower either 
pera of moneywort. terminating the main axis, as. the 
tulip, daffodil, trilium, magnolia, 
etc., or springing singly from the axils, as the running peri- 
winkle, moneywort, and cotton. 
