umbel
(ˈʌmb(ə)l)
Also 6–9 umbell, 6–8 umble, 8 umbil.
[ad. L. umbella sun-shade, parasol, dim. of umbra shadow. So Sp. umbela, Pg. and It. umbella, F. ombelle, † umbelle (16th c.), Sw. umbell. Cf. It. ombrella.]
1. Bot. A mass of inflorescence borne upon pedicels of nearly equal length springing from a common centre. Cf. umbella 1.
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal i. xvi. 19 His stalke is long, big and square,..and on his top a chaffie vmbell or tuft like vnto the true Cyperus. Ibid. ii. ccccxiv. 904 The flowers stande at the tops of the stalkes in small spokie vmbles. 1634 T. Johnson Parey's Chirurg. Wks. xxvii. xii. 1103 Almost all hearbes that carry their flowres and seeds in an umbell, have seeds of a hot, subtle, and aiery substanc. 1652 Culpepper Eng. Physic. 48 The middle part being hollow and low, and the outer stalks rising high, maketh the whole Umbel to shew like a Birds nest. 1682 Nat. Hist. Coffee, etc. 28 On the top of the Branches [of the elder]..there spring sweet and crisped umbels, swelling with white odoriferous Flowers. 1731 P. Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Umbella, That Umbel which consists of Pedicles only, is call'd a Simple Umbel; that which is compos'd both of Rays and Pedicles, is call'd a Compound Umbel. 1785 Martyn Lett. Bot. v. (1794) 54 At first sight you would say, here is an umbellate plant. In looking at it, you would find a large or universal umbel, a small or partial umbel [etc.]. 1832 Veg. Subst. Food 192 The water-parsnip bears its flowers in umbels close upon the fruits of the stem. 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede ii, The gently-curving stems of the feathered grass..and the white umbels of the hemlocks lining the bushy hedgerows. 1882 Garden 11 Feb. 93/1 Nearly the whole of the flowers composing the umbel were succeeded by capsules. |
| attrib. and Comb. 1683 J. Reid Scots Gard'ner (1907) 98 The wild service,..when spread over with their umbel-fashion'd bright red fruit. 1712 Petiver in Phil. Trans. XXVII. 420 The Flowers pale,..in an umbel-like tuft. 1725 Fam. Dict. s.v. Guaiacum, The Flowers appear umbel-wise and are of a pale yellow. 1802 R. Hall Elem. Bot. 192 Umbelliferous,..umbel-bearing. 1829 Loudon Encycl. Pl. (1836) 268 Umbel-flowered. 1858 R. Hogg Veg. Kingd. 370 Umbelliferæ.—Umbelflowers. 1861 S. Thomson Wild Fl. ii. (ed. 4) 121 The fruit of the composites, like that of the umbel-bearers, looks like a seed. 1870 Hooker Stud. Flora 166 Silaus pratensis... Umbel-rays 1–2 in., few or many, incurved. |
† b. An umbelliferous plant.
Obs. rare.
| 1702 Floyer in Phil. Trans. XXIII. 1167, I refer the Umbells to the Grasses, because of their Sweetness and Joynted Stalks. 1713 Petiver Ibid. XXVIII. 189 The Peculiarity of this Umbell, is to have its Root Leaves deeply cut. |
2. Zool. An umbelliform arrangement of parts.
| 1870 H. A. Nicholson Man. Zool. I. 311 Umbellate,..forming an umbel; i.e. a number of nearly equal radii all proceeding from one point. 1891 Cent. Dict., Umbellularia,..a genus of deep-sea alcyonarian polyps, having the polypites clustered in an umbel on top of the polypidom. |