{{short description|Botanical term for highly-branched flower clusters}} thumb|right|Diagram of a panicle
In botany, a '''panicle''' is a much-branched inflorescence.<ref name="Hickey">{{cite book |author1=Hickey, M. |author2=King, C. |year=2001 |title=The Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Botanical Terms |page=30 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521790802|quote=A much-branched inflorescence.}} (softcover {{ISBN|978-0521794015}}).</ref> Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are often racemes. A panicle may have determinate or indeterminate growth.
This type of inflorescence is largely characteristic of grasses, such as oat and crabgrass,{{efn|Technically, the inflorescence unit in a grass is the spikelet, but the arrangement of spikelets may be described as a panicle.}} as well as other plants such as pistachio and mamoncillo. Botanists use the term '''paniculate''' in two ways: "having a true panicle inflorescence"{{efn|"In the form of a panicle"<ref name="Hickey"/>}} as well as "having an inflorescence with the form but not necessarily the structure of a panicle".
==Corymb== A corymb may have a paniculate branching structure, with the lower flowers having longer pedicels than the upper, thus giving a flattish top superficially resembling an umbel. Many species in the subfamily Amygdaloideae, such as hawthorns and rowans, produce their flowers in corymbs.
[[file:Sorbus glabriuscula 2.jpg|thumb|right|upright|''Sorbus glabrescens'' corymb with fruit]]
==See also== * Sheath grass belongs to the genus ''Coleanthus'' in the sweet grass family * Thyrse, a branched inflorescence where the main axis has indeterminate growth, and the branches have determinate growth
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Plant morphology