paniculate

Paniculate is a botanical term used to describe the form of certain inflorescences. An inflorescence described as paniculate resembles a panicle but emphasizes extensive branching. In paniculate inflorescences the main axis bears a series of branches, and those branches may bear further sub-branches with flowers at their tips, producing a feathery, multi-branched appearance.

The term is used as an adjective (paniculate) or to describe a plant with such an inflorescence (paniculate inflorescence). It is often encountered in keys and descriptions of grasses and flowering plants. It is closely related to, and sometimes conflated with, panicle, which is a type of compound inflorescence; paniculate specifically highlights the branching pattern. In contrast with simple racemes or spikes, paniculate inflorescences show repeated branching.

Rice (Oryza sativa) and oats (Avena sativa) are common examples of paniculate inflorescences in cultivated plants. The term derives from Latin paniculus meaning "little panicle" or "little cluster," and is formed with the suffix -ulate meaning "having the appearance of."

Because inflorescence structure is a key trait in plant identification, paniculate is often used in taxonomic descriptions to distinguish species and genera.