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• flora
  flora

  noun

  the plants of a particular region or period, listed by species and considered as a whole.
• Flora
  Flora

  noun

  a female given name.

flora

¹ American  

[flawr-uh, flohr-uh] / ˈflɔr ə, ˈfloʊr ə /

noun

• floras,
  plural
• florae
  plural

1. 

   the plants of a particular region or period, listed by species and considered as a whole.

2. a work systematically describing such plants.

3. plants, as distinguished from fauna.

4. the aggregate of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms normally occurring on or in the bodies of humans and other animals.

   intestinal flora.

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Flora ² American  

[flawr-uh, flohr-uh] / ˈflɔr ə, ˈfloʊr ə /

noun

1. a female given name.

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flora ¹ British  

/ ˈflɔːrə /

noun

1. all the plant life of a given place or time

2. a descriptive list of such plants, often including a key for identification

3. short for intestinal flora

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Flora ² British  

/ ˈflɔːrə /

noun

1. the Roman goddess of flowers

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flora Scientific  

/ flôr′ə /

• floras
  plural

1. The plants of a particular region or time period.

2. The bacteria and other microorganisms that normally inhabit a bodily organ or part, such as the intestine.

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flora Cultural  

1. Plants, especially the plants of a particular place and time.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• subflora
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• florae
  plural
• floras
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of flora

First recorded in 1655–65; from New Latin, Latin Flōra the Roman goddess of flowers (used from the 17th century in the titles of botanical works), derivative of Latin flōr- (stem of flōs ) “flower”

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Explanation

The flora of a particular area consists of its plant species, considered as a whole. The word also refers to the plant life of a particular era — for example, fossilized plants can help us determine the flora at the time of dinosaurs. The use of the word flora as referring to a particular area's vegetation has been used by botanists since the 1640s, but it became common with Swedish botanist Linnaeus, who in 1745 wrote "Flora Suecica," a study of the plant life of Sweden. The word was a natural fit, as Flōra was the name of the Roman goddess of flowers. When scientists study a region's flora, they classify their findings and create a descriptive list, which is also called a flora.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

flora Flora floras

Color lithographs of marine organisms drawn by the 19th-century zoologist Ernst Haeckel offer magical views of fantastically intricate flora and fauna—a huge influence on Ms. Van Herpen.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

Genetic material recovered from internal tissues included bacteria that were part of Ötzi's original gut flora.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026

Its landscapes include grasslands, lagoons, heathland and vegetated shingle, which supports a range of creatures, flora and fauna - not just birds.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

For those unfamiliar with these funky flora, be warned.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

Pages from Roosevelt’s field notes of the flora and fauna of New York, New Jersey, and Vermont, plus his hand-drawn map.

From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple

Some of the biggest names in women's boxing have paid tribute to Katie Taylor after the Irish great ended her career with victory over Flora Pili at Croke Park.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

First pitcher selected in this year’s draft: Jackson Flora of UC Santa Barbara, taken fourth overall by the San Francisco Giants.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026

Flora Badger is taking three teenage girls on their first holiday abroad this summer.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

Coty originally acquired the license back in 2016, giving it the rights to sell Gucci-branded beauty products like the Flora and Bloom fragrance lines.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

Flora had a hard time imagining what love would be doing standing in a bowl of soup and singing, but these were the kind of idiotic words her parents spoke.

From "Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures" by Kate DiCamillo

Of the 1,000 or so species of floras in the park, lodgepole pine and the duff from its fallen needles and branches provided most of the fuel for the fires.

From Time Magazine Archive

All these latter, except Ulmus and Planera, have been found also in the Eastern-Australian Tertiaries, and we may therefore consider that at this period the northern temperate element in both floras was identical.

From Island Life Or the Phenomena and Causes of Insular Faunas and Floras by Alfred Russel Wallace

On the whole, there seems to be less difference between the floras of Arctic and temperate latitudes in Upper Cretaceous than in Miocene times.

From Island Life Or the Phenomena and Causes of Insular Faunas and Floras by Alfred Russel Wallace

We can hardly doubt that some such change occurred between the Lower and Upper Cretaceous periods, the floras of which exhibit such an extraordinary contrast in general character.

From Island Life Or the Phenomena and Causes of Insular Faunas and Floras by Alfred Russel Wallace

Sir Joseph Hooker also doubts the generally greater richness of tropical over temperate floras which I have taken as almost an axiom.

From Island Life Or the Phenomena and Causes of Insular Faunas and Floras by Alfred Russel Wallace

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Related Words

• vegetation

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