This glossary definition is part of the Purdue Arboretum learning resource database, providing educational information on campus flora, morphology, and botanical terminology.
Spathe
A bract or leaf encasing a flower cluster. This feature helps explain how flowers are arranged, how pollination happens, or how seeds begin to form.
Did you know?
The colorful part of a peace lily is a spathe, a modified bract, not a true petal.
The Purdue Arboretum is a collaboration between the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture and Administrative Operations