bract

Noun

Meaning

A leaf, usually smaller than the true leaves of a plant, from the axil of which a flower stalk arises.

Any modified leaf, or scale, on a flower stalk or at the base of a flower.

Synonyms

Hypernyms

Hyponyms

Phrases with the word

Examples

After 12 to 20 months, the stem grows into a spike-like inflorescence up to convert long with over 100 spirally arranged, trimerous flowers, each subtended by a bract. Source: Internet

Each floret may be subtended by a bract, called a "palea" or "receptacular bract". Source: Internet

Culture A California Native American myth explains that each three-ended bract is the tail and two tiny legs of a mouse that hid inside the scales of the tree's cones during forest fires, and the tree was kind enough to be its enduring sanctuary. Source: Internet

The female cones are pendulous, with persistent scales (unlike true firs), and are distinctive in having a long tridentine (three-pointed) bract that protrudes prominently above each scale (it resembles the back half of a mouse, with two feet and a tail). Source: Internet

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