Bractlet

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A tiny leaf-like structure found on the stalk just below a flower or on the small stalks within a flower cluster
2. A minute modified leaf that grows beneath a single blossom, often on its own short stem within an inflorescence
3. A small bract, or bracteole, that sits on the pedicel of a flower and helps protect the developing bud

Etymology: "Bractlet" is a plain technical formation: "bract" with the diminutive suffix "-let," meaning "little." A bract is a modified leaf, often small and scale-like, that sits at the base of a flower or flower cluster, and a bractlet is a smaller leaf of that kind, found on the stalks of a flower cluster rather than directly beneath the whole flower. The suffix "-let" came into English from Old French, where it made diminutives, so words like "streamlet" and "booklet" follow the same pattern. Attaching it to "bract" was a botanical convenience rather than a long-established word with a dramatic past, and the term is used mainly in technical descriptions of plant structure.

Synonyms: bracteole