Fig. 205. Head of the Button-bush (Cephalanthus).
Fig. 206. Spadix and spathe of the Indian Turnip; the latter cut through below.
[212.] A Spadix is a fleshy spike or head, with small and often imperfect flowers, as in the Calla, Indian Turnip, (Fig. [206]), Sweet Flag, etc. It is commonly surrounded or embraced by a peculiar enveloping leaf, called a Spathe.
[213.] A Catkin, or Ament, is the name given to the scaly sort of spike of the Birch (Fig. [207]) and Alder, the Willow and Poplar, and one sort of flower-clusters of the Oak, Hickory, and the like,—the so-called Amentaceous trees.
Fig. 207. Catkin, or Ament, of Birch.
214. Compound flower-clusters of these kinds are not uncommon. When the stalks which in the simple umbel are the pedicels of single flowers themselves branch into an umbel, a Compound Umbel is formed. This is the inflorescence of Caraway (Fig. [208]), Parsnip, and almost all of the great family of Umbelliferous (umbel-bearing) plants.
