inflorescencesduring

Inflorescences are the branching arrangements on flowering plants that bear flowers. The study of inflorescences during development concerns how a shoot meristem transitions from vegetative growth to reproductive growth and how the overall architecture of the inflorescence is built as flowers form and mature. Inflorescences can influence pollination, seed production, and the timing of flowering.

Inflorescences are classified by growth pattern into indeterminate and determinate types. Indeterminate inflorescences, such as racemes, spikes, and panicles, continue to grow and produce new flowers from apical or lateral meristems, so the oldest flowers are at the base and the axis may elongate during development. Determinate inflorescences, such as cymes and capitula, produce a terminal flower early and then cease elongation of that axis. Common forms include racemes with flowers on short stalks along a central axis, spikes with sessile flowers, panicles that are branched racemes, umbels where all pedicels emerge from a single point, cymes that terminate in a floral bud, and capitula or heads that cluster many flowers into a compact head, as seen in sunflowers and other Asteraceae.

Developmentally, the shift from vegetative to inflorescence identity involves changes in meristem activity and gene regulation. Floral meristem identity genes promote flowering and floral organ formation, while networks that maintain or terminate meristem determinacy influence whether a structure remains indeterminate or becomes a single-flower determinate unit. Environmental cues such as day length, temperature, and resource status can modulate timing and architecture.

Inflorescence diversity reflects evolutionary adaptation to pollination and seed dispersal strategies and remains a central trait in plant systematics, horticulture, and breeding.