inflorescence

Other forms: inflorescences

Definitions of inflorescence
  1. noun
    the flowering part of a plant or arrangement of flowers on a stalk
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    flower head
    a shortened compact cluster of flowers so arranged that the whole gives the effect of a single flower as in clover or members of the family Compositae
    ament, catkin
    a cylindrical spikelike inflorescence
    umbel
    flat-topped or rounded inflorescence characteristic of the family Umbelliferae in which the individual flower stalks arise from about the same point; youngest flowers are at the center
    corymb
    flat-topped or convex inflorescence in which the individual flower stalks grow upward from various points on the main stem to approximately the same height; outer flowers open first
    flower cluster
    an inflorescence consisting of a cluster of flowers
    cyme
    more or less flat-topped cluster of flowers in which the central or terminal flower opens first
    spike
    (botany) an indeterminate inflorescence bearing sessile flowers on an unbranched axis
    raceme
    usually elongate cluster of flowers along the main stem in which the flowers at the base open first
    thyrse, thyrsus
    a dense flower cluster (as of the lilac or horse chestnut) in which the main axis is racemose and the branches are cymose
    cymule
    a small cyme, generally with few flowers
    glomerule
    a compacted or sessile cyme
    scorpioid cyme
    a cyme with flowers or branches alternating in opposite ranks
    type of:
    bloom, blossom, flower
    reproductive organ of angiosperm plants especially one having showy or colorful parts
  2. noun
    the time and process of budding and unfolding of blossoms
    synonyms: anthesis, blossoming, efflorescence, florescence, flowering
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    type of:
    development, growing, growth, maturation, ontogenesis, ontogeny
    (biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically; a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level
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