Biology · Morphology of Flowering Plants · NEET
It is what happens to the MAIN AXIS (peduncle). In racemose the main axis keeps growing and does NOT end in a flower, so growth is unlimited. In cymose the main axis STOPS because its tip turns into a flower, so growth is limited. Everything else (the order flowers open) follows from this one fact.
Acropetal means 'towards the apex (tip).' The OLDEST flower is at the base and the YOUNGEST is near the growing tip. This happens in RACEMOSE inflorescence because the main axis keeps growing upward and makes new younger flowers at the top. NCERT states flowers are borne laterally in acropetal succession in racemose type.
Basipetal means 'towards the base.' The OLDEST flower is at the top/centre (it formed first when the tip became a flower) and younger flowers appear below or to the sides. This happens in CYMOSE inflorescence because the main axis terminated early in a flower, so later flowers develop lower down.
Because of WHERE the growing point is. In racemose the tip keeps growing, so it keeps adding new (young) flowers above the old ones — old at bottom, young at top (acropetal). In cymose the tip is 'used up' as a flower first (old flower on top), and new flowers form below it later (basipetal). The direction of opening is just the mirror of where growth continues.
Neither by itself — NCERT says when a shoot tip transforms into a single flower it is 'solitary.' But when a single terminal flower sits at the end of an axis that stopped growing, it follows the cymose pattern (limited growth, tip ends in a flower). Racemose axes never end in a single terminal flower.
No. This is a common trap. In CYMOSE the main axis is limited in growth because its tip terminates in a flower. Continuous growth of the main axis is the RACEMOSE feature. If a question says 'main axis terminates in a flower,' that is cymose, not racemose.
In racemose inflorescence, _________.
Try the real previous-year questions from this chapter — each with the answer and a full solution.
Racemose: radish/mustard raceme (and the corn cob is a packed inflorescence). Cymose: Solanum (as NCERT describes its inflorescence as 'solitary, axillary or cymose as in Solanum'). Always anchor examples to NCERT wording for NEET.
Link RACEMOSE to ACROPETAL (both feel like 'going up' — the racing axis climbs to the apex). Then CYMOSE must be BASIPETAL by elimination. Acro = apex/top; Basi = base/bottom for where the youngest flowers appear.
Racemose (acropetal): oldest flower is at the BASE, youngest at the top. Cymose (basipetal): oldest flower is at the TOP/centre (the terminal one), younger flowers appear lower or to the sides.
Because one line of NCERT (main axis growth + acropetal vs basipetal) is easy to twist into a trap option. NEET 2026 directly tested it. Knowing the single axis-growth rule lets you answer any variant quickly.
