Bract

A type of water hose with scale-shaped bracts under the inflorescence and bracts

As bracts , Hypsophylle is known in plants leaves , which is above the normal leaves are and differ from these in shape and color.

Usually the leaves are reduced, with only the lower leaf well developed (vaginal bracts). But there are also bracts which, in the reduction of the entire organ, mainly consist of the spider part (laminar bracts).

In addition, they often serve to attract insects, in these cases bracts only differ in color from the leaves (a well-known example of this is the poinsettia ). In a broader sense, the petals of the perianth are also just a special case of bracts. Bracts can assimilate as long as they are green. However, the original leaf function often takes a back seat to the envelope function. Such bracts initially enclose the flower bud, but can still stand away from the unfolded flower after the uppermost stem section has been stretched.

The bracts and bracts of flowers or partial inflorescences are often designed as bracts, that "brakteos". However, bracts are not necessarily bracts of side shoots or flowers and, conversely, bracts are not always bract-like.

In some species with inconspicuous flowers, it is conspicuously colored bracts, which instead of the flower envelope take on the function of attracting pollinators . Then the bracts are poor in chlorophyll or free of chlorophyll (loss of assimilation function). Forming a plurality of bracts a goblet-like shell around an inflorescence, so one also speaks of bracts .

gallery

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  Four conspicuous bracts at the base of the greenish, gold-like inflorescence take on the function of viewing on Bentham's dogwood ( Cornus capitata )

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  Bract of poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) with striking red coloration

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  Three purple bracts of the triplet flower ( Bougainvillea )

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  Spathiphyllum forms a white bract next to the actual flower

literature

• Klaus Napp-Zinn: Handbook of Plant Anatomy. Borntraeger, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-443-14015-7 .
• James D. Mauseth: Botany. An Introduction to Plant Biology. 4th edition. Jones & Bartlett, Sudbury MA 2008, ISBN 978-0-7637-5345-0 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Hochblatt  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations