Accessibility options


inflorescence

Inflorescence

In plants, a branch, or system of branches, bearing two or more individual flowers. Inflorescences can be divided into two main types: cymose (or definite) and racemose (or indefinite). In a cymose inflorescence, the tip of the main axis produces a single flower and subsequent flowers arise on lower side branches, as in forget-me-not Myosotis and chickweed Stellaria; the oldest flowers are, therefore, found at the tip. A racemose inflorescence has an active growing region at the tip of its main axis, and bears flowers along its length, as in hyacinth Hyacinthus; the oldest flowers are found near the base or, in cases where the inflorescence is flattened, towards the outside. The stalk of the inflorescence is called a peduncle; the stalk of each individual flower is called a pedicel.

Types of racemose inflorescence include the raceme, a spike of similar, stalked flowers, as seen in lupin Lupinus. A corymb, seen in candytuft Iberis amara, is rounded or flat-topped because the pedicels of the flowers vary in length, the outer pedicels being longer than the inner ones. A panicle is a branched inflorescence made up of a number of racemes; such inflorescences are seen in many grasses, for example, the oat Avena. The pedicels of an umbel, seen in members of the carrot family (Umbelliferae), all arise from the same point on the main axis, like the spokes of an umbrella. Other types of racemose inflorescence include the catkin, a pendulous inflorescence, made up of many small stalkless flowers; the spadix, in which tiny flowers are borne on a fleshy axis; and the capitulum, in which the axis is flattened or rounded, bears many small flowers, and is surrounded by large petal-like bracts.

© RM 2009. Helicon Publishing is division of RM.


 
 

Encyclopaedia Search

Click a letter for the index
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Or search the encyclopaedia:
 
 
All results tagged with the symbol denotes content that is relevant to the national curriculum

Advertisement starts



Advertisement ends


Advertisement starts



Advertisement ends

Country Search

 
 

Dictionary search

 
 

Somalia Flag

Somalia Flag
Blue is said to represent the bright sky. The star stands for freedom. Effective date: 12 October 1954.

Health Search

 
 
Search all Diseases Medicines

Advertisement starts



Advertisement ends

Skip to page content | Text onlyGraphical version of this page

Tiscali Quicklinks. Please visit our Accessibility Page for a list of the Access Keys you can use to find your way around the site, skip directly to the main navigation, to the page content, or to more links within reference.

web |  shopping |  this site |  video |  local services

Page Footer


Access keys


You will need to use different key combinations in order to use access keys depending on your internet browser, find out which on our accessibility page.
  • (0) Navigate to Accessibility page.
  • (1) Navigate to Home page.
  • (2) Navigate to My email.
  • (3) Navigate to My Account.
  • (4) Navigate to Site Map page.
  • (5) Navigate to Contact us page.
  • (6) Navigate to Members channel.
  • (7) Navigate to Services channel.
  • (8) Navigate to News & Info channel.
  • (9) Navigate to Entertainment channel.
  • ([) Skip down to the Primary navigation block.
  • (]) Skip down to the more links within this section block.
  • (=) Bypass all navigation and jump to the content.
  • (x) Text only version of this page.
Background images used:
furniture images used in the site icons used in the site images used in the header