INFLORESCENCE 
213 
ing. Imbedded in the nucellus is the embryo sac containing 
the egg cell which, if fertilized, will develop into a new plant. 
The ovule is attached to the ovary by a stalk called the funicle 
(Latin, funiculus , little rope) through which it receives food 
for its growth and de¬ 
velopment. 
As soon as the egg cell 
is fertilized it begins to 
divide, forming the new 
plant. At the same time 
other changes take place 
which result in the forma¬ 
tion of a seed. (See page 
219.) 
In the early days of 
the study of botany, per¬ 
sons were interested more 
in describing flowers mi¬ 
nutely and in classifying 
them than in learning 
about how they lived. 
Although the latter is 
now of greater interest, 
we still need many of the 
terms formerly used to 
describe the plants in 
order to read about them 
intelligently. For this 
reason, the ones most 
commonly used are given in the text or in references. 
194. Inflorescence. — Flowers that grow at the end of a 
separate stalk, like the common blue violet, tulip, daffodil, 
waterlily, and hepatica, are solitary flowers. This term is 
used also for the single flowers which spring one from the 
axil of each leaf as in pimpernel. As a rule, solitary flowers 
Figure 199. — Umbel. 
A flower cluster in which the pedicels 
arise from a central point. If the pedicels 
have the same length, the cluster is globu¬ 
lar, as in the milkweed. If the outer ones 
are longer, the cluster is flat, as in the 
wild parsnip. 
