palea
Americannoun
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a chafflike scale or bract.
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the scalelike, membranous organ in the flowers of grasses that is situated upon a secondary axis in the axil of the flowering glume and envelops the stamens and pistil.
noun
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the inner of two bracts surrounding each floret in a grass spikelet Compare lemma 1
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any small membranous bract or scale
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The inner or upper of the two bracts enclosing one of the small flowers within a grass spikelet.
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The chaffy scales on the receptacle of a flower head in a plant of the composite family.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of palea
1745–55; < New Latin, special use of Latin palea chaff
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The fourth glume is coriaceous or crustaceous, plano-convex, bisexual, 5-nerved and paleate; palea is as long as the glume.
From A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses by Rangachari, K.
The third glume is oblong-ovate, glabrous, flower bearing, paleate; the palea is shorter than the glume, 2-nerved, splitting into two between the nerves.
From A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses by Rangachari, K.
The third glume is oblong or elliptic-oblong, rigid with a hyaline centre and coriaceous at the sides, 3-nerved, paleate and with three stamens; palea is as long as the glume, coriaceous with inflexed hyaline margins.
From A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses by Rangachari, K.
In mature spikelets the grain which is free is enclosed by the fourth glume and its palea.
From A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses by Rangachari, K.
The third glume is oblong, sub-acuminate, a little shorter than the second glume, 3-nerved, sub-chartaceous, paleate; palea is similar to the glume in texture.
From A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses by Rangachari, K.
The paleae open for a short period for stigma to be dusted, and then close again, and such travelling down would take place under protection.
From More Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 2 by Darwin, Francis, Sir
Ears expel anthers when kept in water in room; but the paleae apparently do not open and expose stigma; but the stigma could easily be artificially impregnated.
From More Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 2 by Darwin, Francis, Sir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
