1. A type of flower cluster in which the main stem ends in a flower, with secondary stems also ending in flowers and arranged in a branching pattern.
Usage: botany; technical

Examples

• The hydrangea displays a dense cyme of small flowers at the tip of each branch.
• In a cyme, the central flower typically blooms before the surrounding flowers.
• Botanists classify the flower cluster as a cyme because of its determinate branching pattern.
• The forget-me-not produces delicate flowers arranged in a characteristic cyme.
• A cyme differs from a raceme in that the main axis terminates in a single flower.