BRACTEA, in botany, a thin leaf or plate of any folium florale, ranged by Linnæus among the fulcra of plants. These floral leaves differ in shape and colour from the other folia of the plant; are generally situated on the pedunculus, and often so near the corolla as to be easily mistaken for the calyx; than which, however, the bractea are generally more permanent. Examples of the floral leaves are seen in the tilia, fumaria bulbosa, lavendula, and horminum.