palea

American  

[pey-lee-uh] / ˈpeɪ li ə /

noun

PLURAL

paleae

1. a chafflike scale or bract.

2. 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.

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palea British  

/ ˌpeɪlɪˈeɪʃəs, ˈpeɪlɪə /

noun

1. the inner of two bracts surrounding each floret in a grass spikelet Compare lemma 1

2. any small membranous bract or scale

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palea Scientific  

/ pā′lēə /

PLURAL

paleae

1. The inner or upper of the two bracts enclosing one of the small flowers within a grass spikelet.

2. The chaffy scales on the receptacle of a flower head in a plant of the composite family.

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Other Word Forms

• paleaceous adjective
• paleate adjective

Etymology

Origin of palea

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

Example Sentences

Achenes fusiform or compressed; pappus of 5 or fewer thin nerveless paleæ, alternating with rough bristly awns, or these wanting.—Low southwestern branching annuals, with narrow entire leaves and solitary terminal heads; ray white or purple.

From Project Gutenberg

A monstrous form occurs in Maine, having a chaffy receptacle and the flowers turned to tufts of chaffy paleæ.

From Project Gutenberg

Having two keelÏlike projections, as the upper palea of grasses.

From Project Gutenberg

The 375 best distinctions are found in the position of the embryo in relation to the endosperm—lateral in grasses, basal in Cyperaceae—and in the possession by Gramineae of the 2-nerved palea below each flower.

From Project Gutenberg

In Episcopal Church House, Philadelphia, last week Archdeacon the Rev. James F. Bullitt, uncle of the new Ambassador, flared: "The United States has disgraced itself by establishing relations with a country which is beyond the palea pariah among nations!"

From Time Magazine Archive