cyme

American  

[sahym] / saɪm /

noun

1. an inflorescence in which the primary axis bears a single central or terminal flower that blooms first.

2. a flat or convex inflorescence of this type.

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cyme British  

/ saɪm /

noun

1. an inflorescence in which the first flower is the terminal bud of the main stem and subsequent flowers develop as terminal buds of lateral stems

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cyme Scientific  

/ sīm /

1. A usually flat-topped or convex determinate inflorescence in which the central main stem and each side branch end in a flower. The flowers in the cluster begin blooming from the flower on the main stem downwards or outwards. Baby's breath, dogwood, and the tomato have cymes.

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Other Word Forms

• cymiferous
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of cyme

1595–1605; < Latin cȳma cabbage sprout < Greek kŷma; see cyma

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cyme

"I cyme all the w'y from Ilford 'cause I'd never seen 'im," she cried.

From Time Magazine Archive

JÁTROPHA, L. Flowers monœcious, rarely diœcious, in a terminal open forking cyme; the fertile ones usually in the lower forks.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Asa Gray

Diagram of analogous scorpioid cyme, with alternate leaves or bracts.

From The Elements of Botany For Beginners and For Schools by Asa Gray

The dotted lines on the left indicate the place of the wanting branches, which if present would convert this scorpioid cyme into the complete one of Fig.

From The Elements of Botany For Beginners and For Schools by Asa Gray

Cymose, furnished with cymes, or like a cyme.

From The Elements of Botany For Beginners and For Schools by Asa Gray

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