spathe

American  

[spayth] / speɪð /

noun

Botany.

1. a bract or pair of bracts, often large and colored, subtending or enclosing a spadix or flower cluster.

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spathe British  

/ speɪð /

noun

1. a large bract, often coloured, that surrounds the inflorescence of aroid plants and palms

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spathe Scientific  

/ spāth /

1. A large, leaflike, often showy bract that encloses a flower cluster or spadix, as in the jack-in-the-pulpit or calla lily.

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Other Word Forms

• spathaceous
  adjective
• spathed
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of spathe

1775–85; < Latin spatha < Greek spáthē blade, sword, stem; cf. spade ²

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spathe

The pod-like leaf called a spathe is slightly rounder and paler than the darker, flatter blades of seagrass.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

When it does bloom, the spathe — leaflike structures encasing the plant — unfurl around 3 or 4 p.m., reaching maximum size in the early hours of the morning.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

The real show starts when the enormous outer layer called a spathe opens up, revealing a deep reddish interior.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

Its hoodlike structure is called a spathe, which envelopes a bulb-shaped structure called the spadix, a fleshy knob dotted by dozens of tiny, petal-less yellow flowers.

From Salon ● May 27, 2025

Aquatics, with diœcious or polygamous flowers from a spathe; outer perianth calyx-like, the inner sometimes wanting.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Asa Gray

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Related Words

• covering

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