What is the difference between inflorescence and florescence?

Answer 1

Inflorescence is a botanical term that describes a cluster of flowers on a plant, which is contrasted with single flowers that do not occur in bunches. You can kind of see the root "flor" give away the reference to flowers.

Florescence is a word that describes a period of flourishing, but it is merely one letter away from a far more commonly used word, "fluorescence".

Fluorescence is defined as the emission of electromagnetic radiation by a substance that is stimulated by incident radiation. That's a very broad definition, but the term is often used to apply to minerals that glow any color in the visible spectrum when exposed to invisible ultraviolet radiation.

Fluorescence is distinct from incandescence and luminescence. Influorescence generally describes the emission of visible light, it can also apply to the emission of wavelengths that are invisible; however it also stipulates such emissions are spurred by the absorption of electromagnetic radiation. Incandescence and luminescence both are defined as emitting visible light only, with the former being induced by the application of heat, and the latter being induced by non-thermal means (such as chemical reactions).

With all of this said, it's worth pointing out that "influorescence" is not a word.