prophyll

Etymology
Originally coined by botanists, from  and.

Noun

 * 1)  The frequently specialised or reduced leaf produced at the first node of a new shoot.

Usage notes
Between the coining of the word and the second half of the 20th century, a great amount of confusion existed in the definitions of the word and its equivalents in French and German. Many authors believed the prophyll to be a specific structure, and specialists of the Aroidea often give it such a sense.