Ornithogalum thyrsoides inflorescence structure

Ornithogalum thyrsoides, a bulbous perennial, produces an erect flower stalk and about six lanceolate, fleshy leaves in spring after a dormant winter period.

The specific name thyrsoides means like a thyrse, one of the recognised types of inflorescence structure, comprising a panicle in which the lateral branches terminate in cymes. A cyme is an inflorescence structure in which the main axis terminates in a first flower and stops growing, then produces one or more branches also terminating in flowers that grow more vigorously than the main axis. The flowers of O. thyrsoides grow in a fewer flowered loose corymb-like structure in which all the flowers are positioned roughly at the same height, or in a more-flowered raceme. In the case of a raceme the flowers are borne on short stalks of about equal length at equal distances along an elongated (in this case vertical) axis and opening in succession toward the apex (iNaturalist; www.plantzafrica.com; www.merriam-webster.com).