Welcome to Word of the Week! Stay tuned for a new word each Wednesday to amp up your nature vocabulary!
Inflorescence [in-floh-RES-uhns] (noun): The arrangement of a cluster of flowers on a plant.
Flowers can sometimes appear as one when in fact they are many: a great example that may surprise you is the sunflower! In the above image the milkweed (left) displays an umbel inflorescence (flowers radiating from one point), while the viper's bugloss has a scorpioid cyme inflorescence (flowers alternating left and right).
We have actually already seen inflorescence in Word of the Week! Willow catkins have a spike form of inflorescence (flowers directly attached to a central stem).
Sammy Tangir - Sammy is a serious nature nerd and especially enthusiastic about plants! When she is not thinking of next week's nature word, she is working as an outdoor educator and practicing her wood carving skills.
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