The RACEME has the inflorescence placed along a common
axis or centre, the same as a spike, but with the flowers placed
upon stalks instead of being sessile, as in Water-cress (Nasturtium
officinale) and Red Currant (Ribes rubrum).]
[Illustration:Candy-tuft]
The CORYMB is a form of inflorescence pretty much the same as
raceme, but the flowers of which proceed upwards till they are all on
a level, as in Candy-tuft (Iberis).
[Illustration: Creeping Soft Grass.]
The PANICLE, the same as the raceme, but having the flower
stalks themselves divided into branches, as in Creeping Soft Grass
(Holcus mollis). This and the spike are the most usual form of
inflorescence found among grasses, in many of which the panicle,
however, is often contracted almost to a spike.
[Illustration: Elder.]
The CYME, this resembles the panicle shortened in such a
manner as to become flattened or almost corymbose, as in the Elder
Tree (Sambucus nigra), in which there are five principal stalks of
inflorescence.
[Illustration: Chamomile.]
CAPITULUM, in which the flowers arise from a broad round head
or receptacle as in the composite flowers, such as Chamomile (Anthemis
nobilis); in such flowers the star-like ray of florets are called the
florets of the ray, and those composing the centre the florets of the
disc.
[Illustration: Arum.]
The SPADIX is that form of inflorescence in which the
expanded bract, called a spathe, forms a sort of sheath inclosing
the flowers. This spathe is white in the example given, and is often
mistaken for part of the flower itself, as in the Wake-robin or Arum
(Arum maculatum).
The vegetable kingdom is divided into three great natural families, the
Acrogenæ, the Endogenæ, and the Exogenæ.
The acrogenous plants are those which as a general rule have neither
branches, leaves, nor flowers; they are almost wholly made up of
cellular tissue, and are many of them so minute that they are quite
invisible individually to the unassisted eye, and are among the most
wonderful works of the Creator, having an amount of beauty in form and
elaboration of ornament bestowed on them, quite equal to anything among
the higher and larger creations, and yet some of these are so small
that tens of millions may be placed in the space of a cubic inch, of
such are the Diatomaceæ and Desmidiaceæ.
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