Inflorescence identified by Tom and family (6)
I believe the answer is:
catkin
'inflorescence' is the definition.
(catkin is a kind of inflorescence)
'tom and family' is the wordplay.
'tom' becomes 'cat' (a tom is a male cat).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'family' becomes 'kin' (synonyms).
'cat'+'kin'='CATKIN'
'identified by' is the link.
(Other definitions for catkin that I've seen before include "Feature of hazel trees" , "Flowering spike of willow, hazel, etc" , "Ament -- on the hazel tree" , "Flowering spike hanging from willow and hazel" , "Feature of willow/hazel" .)