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indeterminate inflorescence

plant anatomy
Also known as: racemose inflorescence

Quick Summary

An indeterminate inflorescence is a cluster of flowers on a plant where the youngest flowers are located at the top of an elongated axis or in the center of a truncated axis. This type of inflorescence allows for continuous flowering as the main axis grows and produces new flowers. Examples of indeterminate inflorescences include racemes, panicles, spikes, catkins, corymbs, umbels, spadices, and heads. In a raceme, flowers are borne on short stalks (pedicels) along an unbranched axis, as seen in snapdragons. A spike has flowers directly attached to the axis without pedicels, like in barley.12

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