Umbel definition

ŭmbəl
umbels
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A flat-topped or rounded flower cluster in which the individual flower stalks arise from about the same point, characteristic of plants in the parsley family, such as Queen Anne's lace.
noun
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A cluster of flowers with stalks of nearly equal length which spring from about the same point, like the ribs of an umbrella.
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Designating a family (Apiaceae, order Apiales) of hollow-stemmed, herbaceous, dicotyledonous plants having umbels, including celery and parsley.
adjective
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A flat or rounded indeterminate inflorescence in which the individual flower stalks (called pedicels) arise from about the same point on the stem at the tip of the peduncle. The geranium, milkweed, and onion have umbels. Umbels usually show centripetal inflorescence, with the lower or outer flowers blooming first.
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(botany) A flat-topped or rounded flower-cluster (= inflorescence) in which the individual flower stalks arise from the same point, the youngest flowers being at the centre.
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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
umbel
Plural:
umbels

Origin of umbel

  • New Latin umbella from Latin parasol diminutive of umbra shadow

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Borrowing from Latin umbella ("umbrella").

    From Wiktionary

Umbel Sentence Examples

  • The tufted head or umbel is likened by Pliny to a thyrsus.

  • At the base of the general umbel in umbelliferous plants a whorl of bracts often exists, called a general involucre, and at the base of the smaller umbels or umbellules there is a similar leafy whorl called an involucel or partial involucre.

  • When the axis is so shortened that the secondary axes arise from a common point, and spread out as radii of nearly equal length, each ending in a single flower or dividing again in a similar radiating manner, an umbel is produced, as in fig.

  • In Eryngium the shortening of the pedicels changes an umbel into a capitulum.

  • In Saxifraga umbrosa (London-pride) and in the horse-chestnut we meet with a raceme of scorpioid cymes; in sea-pink, a capitulum of contracted scorpioid cymes (often called a glomerulus); in laurustinus, a compound umbel of dichasial cymes; a scorpioid cyme of capitula in Vernonia scorpioides.

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