bract
/brakt
/noun Botany
A modified leaf or scale, typically small, with a flower or flower cluster in its axil. Bracts are sometimes larger and more brightly coloured than the true flower, as in poinsettia.Even though a continuum was observed between the ‘true’ leaves and bracts, for simplicity all primordia bearing an axillary flower were considered as a bract....
- In addition to a terminal flower there may be several smaller lateral flowers in the axil of cupular bracts, each surrounded by its own small cupule.
- Grasses and bamboos are known to have large deposits of silica in the tissues of leaf blades and inflorescence bracts.
Derivatives
bracteal
Origin
Late 18th century: from Latin bractea 'thin plate of metal'.