132 THE VEGETABLE WORLD. 
Let us examine, for example, the method of arrangement in the 
flowers of the Centaury (Erythrea Centaurium), Fig. 154. The 
main stem terminates with a flower, and a little below this the 
stem bears two opposite leaves or bracts. From the axil of each of 
these arises a secondary branch, terminated also in two leaves and 
a flower. ach of these branches comport themselves in the same 
way as the stem, that is, they give birth to two tertiary branches, 
i Ma 
Fig. 155.—Inflorescence of Myosotis. Fig. 156.—Spathe of Arum maculatum. 
each terminating in a flower, and thus it goes on. We thus see 
that at each branching out, the number of flowers is doubled. We 
see besides, that the flowering in this plant goes from the base 
to the summit, or, which comes to the same thing, from the centre 
to the circumference. This sort of inflorescence bears the name 
of a cyme, and in this particular case is said to be dichotomous, 
