The topology of hadronic e + e − annihilation events has been analysed using the sphericity tensor and a cluster method. Comparison with quark models including gluon bremsstrahlung yields good agreement with the data. The strong-coupling constant is determined in 1st order QCD to be α S =0.19±0.04 (stat) ± 0.04 (syst.) at 22 GeV and α S =0.16 ±0.02± 0.03 at 34 GeV. The differential cross section with respect to the energy fraction carried by the most energetic parton agrees with the prediction of QCD, but cannot be reproduced by a scalar gluon model. These results are stable against variations of the transverse momentum distribution of the fragmentation function within the quoted errors.