petiole

1. (botany) The stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem.Examples: "Most insects consume tissue from the leaf blade were measured just past the twist on the side away only, leaving the leaf petioles unscathed."; "By contrast, the petioles of large pinnate leaves, as well as stems, typically resist torsion by placing stiff materials with high elastic moduli (like sclerenchyma) toward the perimeters of their cross sections."; "An example of this is leaf petioles. Some species of trees have pinnate leaves which, when the leaves fall, shed pinnae from the petiole, which is then left as a tapering, somewhat flexible rod."Synonyms: pedicel

2. (entomology, insect anatomy) A narrow or constricted segment of the body of an insect; especially, the metasomal segment of certain Hymenoptera, such as wasps.Synonyms: pedicel

3. (entomology) The stalk at the base of the nest of the paper wasp.