Hypertext Webster Gateway: "bract"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Bract \Bract\, n. [See {Bractea}.] (Bot.)
(a) A leaf, usually smaller than the true leaves of a plant,
from the axil of which a flower stalk arises.
(b) Any modified leaf, or scale, on a flower stalk or at the
base of a flower.
Note: Bracts are often inconspicuous, but sometimes large and
showy, or highly colored, as in many cactaceous plants.
The spathes of aroid plants are conspicuous forms of
bracts.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
bract
n : a modified leaf or leaflike part just below and protecting
an inflorescence
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