a. Bot. [f. Gr. κατά down, degraded + φύλλον leaf + -ARY.] Cataphyllary leaves: the colorless or brownish scales found on various parts of plants, esp. underground, regarded as modifications of foliage-leaves.
1875. Bennett & Dyer, trans. Sachs’ Bot., I. iii. 193. Scale- or ‘Cataphyllary-Leaves’ are usually produced on underground shoots … although they also frequently occur above ground, especially as an envelope to the winter-buds of woody plants (as the horse-chestnut, oak, &c.).
