bract
English
Alternative forms
- bracte, bractea
Etymology
From Latin bractea (“a thin plate of metal; gold leaf”).
Noun
bract (plural bracts)
- (botany) A leaf or leaf-like structure from the axil out of which a stalk of a flower or an inflorescence arises.
- 1789, Erasmus Darwin, The Loves of the Plants, J. Johnson, p. 9:
- In this vegetable monster the bractes, or divisions of the spike, become wonderfully enlarged; and are converted into leaves.
- 1793, Thomas Martyn, The Language of Botany
- A Verticil or Whirl may be […] Naked; that is without involucre, bracte or brittle. Bracted - or Involucred
- 1789, Erasmus Darwin, The Loves of the Plants, J. Johnson, p. 9:
Translations
leaf or leaf-like structure
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