Facts about bracts

Would you describe your poinsettia as having red leaves or red flowers? Actually, the red leaf-like structures are bracts. We look at plants that have bracts as a major feature

WITHOUT going too closely into the botanical definition, a bract may be described as a modified leaf growing at the base of a flower or flower stalk. This meagre description, however, hardly gives the impression that bracts can be just as decorative as a flower, or even more so, and yet some of our most popular plants rely on them and not on flowers for their beauty. In fact, the bracts are sometimes mistaken for flowers.

Perhaps the best example of this is the poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima), which is becoming well established as a pot plant. On this the actual flowers are small, yellow and insignificant, and it is the huge brightly coloured bracts, forming a flower-like head anything up to 18in (46cm) across, which make the plant spectacular. In the original species these bracts are a bright vermilion colour, but new varieties, ranging from white to pink and red, are being introduced and these vary not only in the colour but also in the shape of the bracts, which may be plainedged, wavy-edged or what is called the ‘oak-leaf’ type.

Bracts last longer than flowers