Re: Dumb question

> My dumb question for the day.  What is the difference between the 
> "calyx" and "bracts?"

Nan, 

Calyx is a collective term for sepals, especially when they are fused into a 
tube, as in the mint family for example (corolla is the equivalent for the 
petals).

Bracts are specialized leaves of an inflorescence (flowering structure, e.g. 
spike, raceme, umbel, etc.), often reduced in size and differently shaped to 
leaves, sometimes colored (as in Cornus florida, flowering dogwood). A 
flower (or cluster of flowers) is borne from the joint (axil) between a bract 
and the stem.

Nick Turland
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