umbel
{{Short description|Type of inflorescence}}
{{wikt | umbel}}
In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin umbella "parasol, sunshade".[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=umbel umbel etymology] The arrangement can vary from being flat-topped to almost spherical. Umbels can be simple or compound. The secondary umbels of compound umbels are known as umbellules or umbellets.{{cite book |author1= Beentje, H. |author2= Williamson, J. |year= 2010 |title= The Kew Plant Glossary: an Illustrated Dictionary of Plant Terms |publisher= Kew Publishing |location= Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew }} A small umbel is called an umbellule. The arrangement of the inflorescence in umbels is referred to as umbellate, or occasionally subumbellate (almost umbellate).
Umbels are a characteristic of plants such as carrot, parsley, dill, and fennel in the family Apiaceae; ivy, Aralia and Fatsia in the family Araliaceae; and onion (Allium) in the family Alliaceae.
An umbel is a type of indeterminate inflorescence.
{{cite book
|author1= Walters, D.R.
|author2= Keil, D.J.
|year= 1975
|title= Vascular Plant Taxonomy
|publisher= Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company
|location= Dubuque
}}
A compressed cyme, which is a determinate inflorescence, is called umbelliform if it resembles an umbel.
Gallery
File:Conioselinum pacificum 3573.JPG|Compound umbel of a hemlock-parsley, Conioselinum pacificum (Apiaceae)
File:Daucus carota May 2008-1 edit.jpg|Compound umbel of a wild carrot, Daucus carota (Apiaceae)
File:Fatsia japonica1.jpg|Simple umbel of Fatsia japonica (Araliaceae)
File:Primula veris (inflorescense).jpg|Involucrate simple umbels of Primula veris
File:Pelargonium zonale umbel.jpg|Umbel of a Pelargonium zonale
File:Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace) umbel down view.jpg|alt=Daucus carota (Queen Anne's lace) umbel down view|Daucus carota umbel down view
References
Further reading
- {{cite journal|last1=Hinderer|first1=Walter|last2=Noé|first2=Wolfgang|last3=Seitz|first3=Hanns Ulrich|title=Differentiation of metabolic pathways in the umbel of Daucus carota|journal=Phytochemistry|volume=22|issue=11|year=1983|pages=2417–2420|issn=0031-9422|doi=10.1016/0031-9422(83)80131-9}}
- {{cite journal|last1=Toben|first1=H.-M.|last2=Rudoph|first2=K|title=Pseudomonas syringae pv. coriandricola, Incitant of Bacterial Umbel Blight and Seed Decay of Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) in Germany|journal=Journal of Phytopathology|volume=144|issue=4|year=1996|pages=169–178|issn=0931-1785|doi=10.1111/j.1439-0434.1996.tb01510.x}}
- {{cite journal|last1=Peterson|first1=L. E.|last2=Clark|first2=R. J.|last3=Menary|first3=R. C.|title=Umbel Initiation and Stem Elongation in Fennel(Foeniculum vulgare)Initiated by Photoperiod|journal=Journal of Essential Oil Research|volume=5|issue=1|year=1993|pages=37–43|issn=1041-2905|doi=10.1080/10412905.1993.9698168}}
{{botany}}
{{Plant-morphology-stub}}