An example of a raceme is which plant?

• A. Gladiolas
• B. Ginkgo tree
• C. Squash
• D. Lily of the Valley

Answer: (D)

A raceme is an unbranched flowering stalk with flowers borne on short stalks along the central axis, oldest ones at the base and youngest toward the tip. Lily of the valley displays this exact pattern: a single slender stem lined with many small bell-shaped blossoms, each on its own tiny pedicel along the stem. That pedicellate arrangement along a straight axis is what defines a raceme.

Gladiolus tends to form a spike, where flowers are carried more directly on the main stem with little or no distinct pedicels, so it doesn’t fit the raceme pattern. The squash plant has a different branching/flower arrangement rather than a simple unbranched axis with pedicellate flowers. The ginkgo tree doesn’t produce a typical flowering inflorescence at all, since it’s a gymnosperm that forms cones rather than a raceme of flowers.