
According to the presence or absence of bracts and their characteristics we can distinguish: They serve a variety of functions which include attracting pollinators and protecting young flowers. A bract is usually located at the node where the main stem of the inflorescence forms, joined to the main stem of the plant, but other bracts can exist within the inflorescence itself. Considering the broadest meaning of the term, any leaf associated with an inflorescence is called a bract. Inflorescences usually have modified shoots foliage different from the vegetative part of the plant. These terms are general representations as plants in nature can have a combination of types. Inflorescences are described by many different characteristics including how the flowers are arranged on the peduncle, the blooming order of the flowers and how different clusters of flowers are grouped within it.

The rachis may be one of several types, including Single, Composite, Umbel, Spike or Raceme. Inflorescences may be simple (single) or complex (panicle). The fruiting stage of an inflorescence is known as an infructescence. Any flower in an inflorescence may be referred to as a floret, especially when the individual flowers are particularly small and borne in a tight cluster, such as in a pseudanthium. A flower that is not part of an inflorescence is called a solitary flower and its stalk is also referred to as a peduncle. The stalk of each single flower is called a pedicel. The stem holding the whole inflorescence is called a peduncle and the major axis (incorrectly referred to as the main stem) holding the flowers or more branches within the inflorescence is called the rachis. Inflorescence can also be defined as the reproductive portion of a plant that bears a cluster of flowers in a specific pattern.

The modifications can involve the length and the nature of the internodes and the phyllotaxis, as well as variations in the proportions, compressions, swellings, adnations, connations and reduction of main and secondary axes. Morphologically, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified. Aloe hereroensis, showing inflorescence with branched peduncleĪn inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches.
