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, saɪˈmɪfərəs /

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

Etymology

Origin of cyme

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

Example Sentences

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

From Time Magazine Archive

An inflorescence has the form of a dichotomously-branched cyme bearing small erect cones; those containing the female flowers attain the size of a fir-cone, and are scarlet in colour.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 7 "Gyantse" to "Hallel" by Various

The term dichasium has also been applied to this form of cyme.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 5 "Fleury, Claude" to "Foraker" by Various

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 Gray, Asa

The well-known Snow-ball Tree, or Guelder-Rose, is a cultivated state, with the whole cyme turned into showy sterile flowers.

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 Gray, Asa