palea

[ pey-lee-uh ]

/ ˈpeɪ li ə /

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.

Nearby words

pale horse, pale horse, pale rider, pale western cutworm, pale-, pale-dry, palea, palearctic, paleencephalon, paleethnology, paleface, palembang

Origin of palea

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

Related forms

pa·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. 2019

Examples from the Web for palea

The fourth glume is nearly half or a little more than half of the third glume, narrower, paleate; palea is elliptic.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses|Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar
Grain is oblong to ellipsoidal free within the glume and its palea.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses|Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar
Palea canary yellow to light-brown, lanceolate with Fig. 60.
Grasses|H. Marshall Ward
The third glume is similar to the second, paleate; palea is lanceolate and short.
A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses|Rai Bahadur K. Ranga Achariyar

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

British Dictionary definitions for palea

palea

pale

/ (ˈpeɪlɪə) /

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 Forms

paleaceous (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

Science definitions for palea

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.