202. But when several or many flowers are produced near each other, the accompanying leaves are apt to be of smaller size, or of different shape or character: then they are called BRACTS, and the flowers thus brought together form a cluster. The kinds of flower-clusters of the indeterminate class have received distinct names, according to their form and disposition. They are principally _Raceme_, _Corymb_, _Umbel_, _Spike_, _Head_, _Spadix_, _Catkin_, and _Panicle_. 203. In defining these it will be necessary to use some of the following terms of descriptive botany which relate to inflorescence. If a flower is stalkless, i. e. sits directly in the axil or other support, it is said to be _sessile_. If raised on a naked stalk of its own (as in Fig. 199) it is _pedunculate_, and the stalk is a PEDUNCLE. 204. A peduncle on which a flower-cluster is raised is a _Common peduncle_. That which supports each separate flower of the cluster is a _Partial peduncle_, and is generally called a PEDICEL. The portion of the general stalk along which flowers are disposed is called the _Axis of inflorescence_, or, when covered with sessile flowers, the _Rhachis_ (back-bone), and sometimes the _Receptacle_. The leaves of a flower-cluster generally are termed BRACTS. But when bracts of different orders are to be distinguished, those on the common peduncle or axis, and which have a flower in their axil, keep the name of _bracts_; and those on the pedicels or partial flower-stalks, if any, that of BRACTLETS or _Bracteoles_. The former is the preferable English name. [Illustration: Fig. 200. A raceme, with a general peduncle (_p_), pedicels (_p'_), bracts (_b_), and bractlets (_b'_). Plainly the bracts here answer to the leaves in Fig. 199.] 205. =A Raceme= (Fig. 200) is that form of flower-cluster in which the flowers, each on their own foot-stalk or pedicel, are arranged along the sides of a common stalk or axis of inflorescence; as in the Lily of the Valley, Currant, Barberry, one section of Cherry, etc. Each flower comes from the axil of a small leaf, or bract, which, however, is often so small that it might escape notice, and even sometimes (as in the Mustard Family) disappears altogether. The lowest blossoms of a raceme are of course the oldest, and therefore open first, and the order of blossoming is _ascending_ from the bottom to the top. The summit, never being stopped by a terminal flower, may go on to grow, and often does so (as in the common Shepherd's Purse), producing lateral flowers one after another for many weeks. [Illustration: Fig. 201. A raceme. 202. A corymb. 203. An umbel.] 206. =A Corymb= (Fig. 202) is the same as a raceme, except that it is flat and broad, either convex, or level-topped. That is, a raceme becomes a corymb by lengthening the lower pedicels while the uppermost remain shorter. The axis of a corymb is short in proportion to the lower pedicels. By extreme shortening of the axis the corymb may be converted into