PELTA

(Lat. a shield.) In Botany, a term used in describing lichens to denote a flat shield without any elevated rim, as in the genus Peltidea. 1'ELTASTiE. Light-armed infantry were so named among the Greeks, from carrying the pelta or target. (See Mem. de CJlc. des Inscr., vol. xxxii.) P.E [s. 925]