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In botany, sympodial growth is a branching pattern where one branch develops more strongly than the other, resulting in the stronger branches forming the primary shoot and the weaker branches appearing laterally. A sympodium, also referred to as a sympode or pseudaxis, is the primary shoot, comprising the stronger branches, formed during sympodial growth. The pattern is similar to dichotomous branching; it is characterized by branching along stems or hyphae.
Sympodial growth occurs when the apical meristem is terminated and growth is continued by one or more lateral meristems, which repeat the process. The apical meristem may be consumed to make an inflorescence or other determinate structure, or it may be aborted.
If the sympodium occurs alternately, e.g. on the right and then the left, the branching pattern is called a scorpioid cyme or cincinus (also spelled cincinnus).
Leader displacement may result: the stem appears to be continuous, but is in fact derived from the meristems of multiple lateral branches, rather than a monopodial plant whose stems derive from one meristem only.Simpson, M. G. 2006. Plant Systematics. Elsevier Academic Press. Pg. 355.
Dichotomous substitution may result: two equal laterals continue the main growth.
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