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A 'panicle' is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched indeterminate inflorescence with pedicellate flowers (and fruit) attached along the secondary branches (in other words, a branched cluster of flowers in which the branches are ''racemes''). This type of inflorescence is largely characteristic of grasses like oat and crabgrass^[1], as well as other plants such as pistachio and mamoncillo. Note that botanists use the term ''paniculate'' in two ways: "having a true panicle inflorescence" as well as "having an inflorescence with the form but not necessarily the structure of a panicle".
A 'corymb' is similar to a panicle with the same branching structure, but with the lower flowers having longer stems, thus giving a flattish top superficially resembling an umbel. Many species in the Maloideae, such as hawthorns and rowans, produce their flowers in corymbs.
A 'thyrse' is a compact panicle having an obscured main axis and cymose subaxes, making its paniculate nature hard to discern. Many ''Ceanothus'' species have thyrsiform inflorescences, notably ''Ceanothus thyrsiflorus.''

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Note

Note

1. Technically, the inflorescence unit in a grass is the spikelet, but the arrangement of spikelets along the main stem axis is described using inflorescence terminology.