l62 BEGINNERS' BOTA^VY 



has come to be used for the flower-cluster itself in works 

 on descriptive botany. Thus a cyme or a panicle may be 

 called an inflorescence. It will be seen that even solitary 

 flowers follow either indeterminate or determinate methods 

 of branching. 



The flower-stem. — The stem of a solitary flower is 

 known as a peduncle ; also the general stem of a flower- 

 cluster. The stem of the iridividual flower in a cluster is 

 a pedicel. In the so-called stemless plants the peduncle 

 may arise directly from the ground, or crown of the plant, 

 as in dandelion, hyacinth, garden daisy ; this kind of 

 peduncle is called a scape. A scape may bear one or 

 many flowers. It has no foliage leaves, but it may have 

 bracts. 



Suggestions. — 166. Name six columns in your notebook as 

 follows : spike, raceme, corymb, umbel, cyme, solitary. Write 

 each of the following in its appropriate column : larkspur, grape, 

 rose, wistaria, onion, bridal wreath, banana, hydrangea, phlox, 

 China berry, hly-of-the-valley, Spanish dagger (or yucca), sorghum, 

 tuberose, hyacinth, mustard, goldenrod, peach, hollyhock, mul- 

 lein, crepe myrtle, locust, narcissus, snapdragon, peppergrass, 

 shepherd's purse, coxcomb, wheat, hawthorn, geranium, carrot, 

 elder, millet, dogwood, castor bean ; substitute others for plants 

 that do not grow in your region. 167. In the study of flower- 

 clusters, it is well to choose first those that are fairly typical of the 

 various classes discussed in the preceding paragraphs. As soon 

 as the main types are well fixed in the mind, random clusters 

 should be examined, for the pupil must never receive the impres- 

 sion that all flower-clusters follow the definitions in books. Clus- 

 ters of some of the commonest plants are very puzzling, but the 

 pupil should at least be able to discover whether the inflorescence 

 is determinate or indeterminate. Figures 221 to 223 (from the 

 German) illustrate the theoretical modes of inflorescence. The 

 numerals indicate the order of opening. 



