bract

Etymology

From Latin bractea (“a thin plate of metal; gold leaf”).

noun

1. (botany) A leaf or leaf-like structure from the axil out of which a stalk of a flower or an inflorescence arises.
   In this vegetable monster the bractes, or divisions of the spike, become wonderfully enlarged; and are converted into leaves. 1789, Erasmus Darwin, The Loves of the Plants, J. Johnson, page 9
   A Verticil or Whirl may be[…]Naked; that is without involucre, bracte or brittle. Bracted - or Involucred 1793, Thomas Martyn, The Language of Botany
   Great dense patches of them grew, four and five and six feet deep, impenetrable swathes of dark green bracts that advertised their danger. 2017, Benjamin Myers, The Gallows Pole, Bloomsbury, published 2019, page 31