bract

[brakt]

noun

Botany.

1. a specialized leaf or leaflike part, usually situated at the base of a flower or inflorescence.

bract

/ brækt /

noun

1. a specialized leaf, usually smaller than the foliage leaves, with a single flower or inflorescence growing in its axil

bract

1. A modified leaf growing just below a flower or flower stalk. Bracts are generally small and inconspicuous, but some are showy and petallike, as the brightly colored bracts of bougainvillaea or the white or pink bracts of flowering dogwoods.

Other Word Forms

• bracteal adjective
• bracted adjective
• bractless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bract¹

1760–70; earlier bractea < Latin: a thin plate of metal

Word History and Origins

Origin of bract¹

C18: from New Latin bractea , Latin: thin metal plate, gold leaf, variant of brattea , of obscure origin

Example Sentences

These colorful parts of the plant, often referred to as flowers, are actually modified leaves called bracts.

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Just as most plants are fading at the end of the growing season, hydrangea flowers, technically long-lasting bracts, are at their best, maturing to deep blue, purple and a flight of wines.

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Each flower is held in a cuff of threadlike bracts — the “mist” — and appears in spring and early summer.

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Arching stems produce delicate white flowers and dusky pink bracts throughout the growing season, and the entire plant takes on burnished hues with cool weather in fall.

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Multicolored red-orange flower bracts that will bloom in the late spring and summer.

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Related Words

• frond 
• needle 
• petal 
• stalk