inflorescence

Other forms: inflorescences

Definitions of inflorescence

1. noun

   the flowering part of a plant or arrangement of flowers on a stalk
   types:

   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

   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