palea

[pey-lee-uh]

noun, plural pa·le·ae

[pey-lee-ee] /ˈpeɪ liˌi/.

a chafflike scale or bract.
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.

Origin of palea

1745–55; < New Latin, special use of Latin palea chaff

Related formspa·le·a·ceous

[pey-lee-ey-shuh s] /ˌpeɪ liˈeɪ ʃəs/, pa·le·ate

[pey-lee-it, ‐eyt] /ˈpeɪ li ɪt, ‐ˌeɪt/, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for palea

Historical Examples of palea

The palea is as long as the glume, 2-toothed or not at the apex.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses
Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar
The third glume is hyaline, empty, nerveless and without a palea.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses
Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar
The awn or beard is merely an elongation of the palea inferior.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 17, Slice 4
Various
The long slender awn is inserted below the bifid tip of the palea.
Grasses
H. Marshall Ward
Caryopsis grooved, blunt and more tightly held in the palea.
Grasses
H. Marshall Ward

British Dictionary definitions for palea

palea

pale

noun plural paleae (ˈpeɪlɪˌiː) or pales botany

the inner of two bracts surrounding each floret in a grass spikeletCompare lemma 1
any small membranous bract or scale

Derived Formspaleaceous (ˌpeɪlɪˈeɪʃəs), adjective

Word Origin for palea

C18: from Latin: straw, chaff; see pallet 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

palea in Science

palea

[pā′lēə]

Plural paleae (pā′lē-ē′)

The inner or upper of the two bracts enclosing one of the small flowers within a grass spikelet.
The chaffy scales on the receptacle of a flower head in a plant of the composite family.