Webster's English Dictionary

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palea

pa.lea \'pa--le--*\ \-le--.e-\ \.pa--le--'a--sh*s\ \'pa--le--*l\ n or 
   pa.le.ae [NL, fr. L, chaff - more at PALLET] pl  1: one of the chaffy 
   scales on the receptacle of many composite plants  2: the upper bract that 
   with the lemma encloses the flower in grasses  - pa.le.aceous aj