A floret is a tiny flower that's part of a larger flower head. When you look at what seems like a single flower on broccoli or cauliflower, you're actually seeing hundreds of small florets clustered together. Each little bump on a head of broccoli is its own miniature flower.

The word appears most often when talking about vegetables in the cabbage family. When a recipe calls for “broccoli florets,” it means those small tree-shaped pieces you break off from the main stalk. Cauliflower florets are the little white branches that make up the cauliflower head.

In botany, many flowers that look like single blooms are actually collections of florets. A sunflower's center contains hundreds of tiny disk florets, while the yellow “petals” around the edge are ray florets. Each floret can produce its own seed.