sepal

American  

[see-puhl] / ˈsi pəl /

noun

Botany.

1. one of the individual leaves or parts of the calyx of a flower.

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sepal British  

/ ˈsɛpəl, ˈsɛpələs /

noun

1. any of the separate parts of the calyx of a flower

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sepal Scientific  

/ sē′pəl /

1. One of the usually separate, green parts that surround and protect the flower bud and extend from the base of a flower after it has opened. Sepals tend to occur in the same number as the petals and to be centered over the petal divisions. In some species sepals are colored like petals, and they can even be indistinguishable from petals, as in the lilies (in what are called tepals). In some groups, such as the poppies, the sepals fall off after the flower bud opens.

2. See more at flower

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Other Word Forms

• sepaled adjective
• sepalled adjective

Etymology

Origin of sepal

< New Latin sepalum (1790), irregular coinage based on Greek sképē covering and Latin petalum petal

Example Sentences

True hellebore flowers are relatively insignificant compared to the sturdy petallike sepals that protect the central reproductive parts of the bloom.

From Seattle Times

Plant biologists have long known that sepals, the modified leaves that surround a developing flower, contain some of these giant cells.

From Science Magazine

The Lenten rose is most prized for flowering early in the year, as early as February, and the blooms last for weeks because the outer “petals” are durable structures called sepals.

From Seattle Times

The flowers endure because the petals are in fact thick structures called sepals.

From Washington Post

Goethe recognized that all the parts of a flower, from pistil to sepal, are modified leaves.

From Nature