Editing Inflorescence (section)

{{short description|Botanical term for a cluster of flowers}}
{{Distinguish|Fluorescence}}
{{Redirect|Inflorescent|the album|Inflorescent (album){{!}}''Inflorescent'' (album)}}
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[[File:Aloe hereroensis Auob C15.JPG|thumb|''[[Aloe hereroensis]]'', showing inflorescence with branched [[Peduncle (botany)|peduncle]]]]
[[File:Amorphophallus at Fairchild.jpg|thumb|''[[Amorphophallus titanum]]'' has the world's largest unbranched inflorescence. Photo of the plant in bloom in 2000 at [[Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden]] in [[Miami]], Florida, US]]

In [[botany]], an '''inflorescence''' is a group or cluster of [[flower]]s arranged on a [[plant]]'s [[Plant stem|stem]] that is composed of a main [[branch]] or a system of branches.<ref>Guertin, P., Barnett, L., Denny, E.G., Schaffer, S.N. 2015. USA National Phenology Network Botany Primer. USA-NPN Education and Engagement Series 2015-001. [https://Www.usanpn.org www.usanpn.org].</ref> An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a main axis ([[Peduncle (botany)|peduncle]]) and by the timing of its flowering (determinate and indeterminate).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-09-26 |title=Inflorescence {{!}} Racemes, Spikes & Cymes {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/inflorescence |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

[[Morphology (biology)|Morphologically]], an inflorescence is the modified part of the [[Shoot (botany)|shoot]] of [[spermatophyte|seed plants]] where flowers are formed on the axis of a plant. The modifications can involve the length and the nature of the [[internode (botany)|internode]]s and the [[phyllotaxis]], as well as variations in the proportions, compressions, swellings, [[adnation]]s, [[connation]]s and reduction of main and secondary axes.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}

One can also define an inflorescence as the reproductive portion of a plant that bears a cluster of flowers in a specific pattern.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}

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