462 SPECrrtC DISTINCTIONS. 



they afford a real, and almost the only distinction; and by their 

 situation in the axillae of the leaves, they determine Bentarium„< 



...LlLIUM,...ORNlTH0GALUM,...SAXIFRAGA J ...and BlSTORTA. 



Inflorescence affords the truest, and in most genera the most 

 elegant distinction. Thus in spiraea, the flowers are in some spe- 

 cies duplicato- racemose in others corymbose;... and. in others 

 again, umbellate /...without which characters there would he no 

 certainty of the species. 



The peduncle, or flower-stalk, which is the foundation of the 

 characters of inflorescence, varies as to the manner of its support- 

 ing the flowers; and is said to be, 



1. Flaccid, wanting firmness; when It is so weak as to be 

 bowed down by the weight of the flower itself. 



2. Cernuus, nodding; when it is incurvate at the apex, so 

 that the flower inclines to one side, or towards the ground, and 

 cannot preserve an erect posture, by reason of the strict curva- 

 ture of the peduncle, as in Carpesium,...Bidens Ra[>iata,...Car- 

 duus Nutans,... Scabiosa Alpina,... Helianthus Annuus,... and 

 Cnicus Sibiricus. 



3. Bearing fastigtote flowers; when the pedicelli*, or partial 

 foot-stalks elevate the fructification into a fascicle, so that they 

 are of an equal height at the top, as if they had been shorn off 

 horizontally, as in Dianthus and Silene. , 



4. Patulus, spreading; when it is branched out every way, 

 so that the flowers stand remote from each other. This stands 

 opposite to Co arctate, close. 



5. Bearing Conglomerate flowers ; when it is branched, and 

 bears the flowers hi close compact heaps, and is therefore op- 

 posed to a diffuse pannicle. 



* In this, and some other places, the Philosophia Botanica has petiole for 

 ftllus; but the latter is the proper term for the partial foot-stalk of a flower. See 

 Cbap.IV. Author, 



