Flora means "flower" in Latin, and Flora was the Roman goddess of spring and flowering plants, especially wildflowers and plants not raised for food. She was shown as a beautiful young woman in a long, flowing dress with flowers in her hair, strewing flowers over the earth. English preserves her name in such words as floral, floret, and flourish. A region's flora may range from tiny violets to towering trees. The common phrase "flora and fauna" covers just about every visible living thing.
an amazing variety of coastal flora the floras of different coastal regions
Recent Examples on the WebSome land would remain in its natural state to preserve flora and fauna, historic sites or scientific interests, according to the documents. Michelle Mullins, Chicago Tribune, 14 Sep. 2022 Along the trail are 18 stations that detail the flora, fauna and geological formations. Kenneth R. Rosen, Washington Post, 26 Aug. 2022 India—8th—for its colors, flora, fauna, palaces, waterways and temples. Alex Ledsom, Forbes, 17 Aug. 2022 Members chat flora, but also share photos of their pets. Justin Pot, WSJ, 26 July 2022 When the Loose clan threatens to develop the pristine land (home to fragile flora, fauna, and Indigenous artifacts), Agnes works fiercely to convince shareholders to donate it to a protecting trust. Joan Frank, BostonGlobe.com, 30 June 2022 Nature lovers will find year-round nirvana in the Blue Ridge Mountains, though spring, summer, and fall are the best times of year to visit for exuberant flora, pleasant weather, and an array of outdoor activities. Anne Olivia Bauso, Travel + Leisure, 31 May 2022 At a quick glance, the flora of Hyde Park has inspired Apple to provide this jolly scene. David Phelan, Forbes, 18 July 2022 Kya is actually brilliant, a gifted artist who has grown up among the flora and fauna of the marsh and chronicles it with watercolors. Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 12 July 2022 See More
Word History
Etymology
borrowed from New Latin, from Latin Flōra, the goddess of flowers and the flowering season, thematicized derivative from the stem of flōr-, flōs "flower, bloom" — more at flower entry 1
Note: In the early modern period, the names of figures from ancient myth or history were featured in book titles as symbols of the subject matter—as Urania for a work on astronomy, Mithridates for a work on languages, and Atlas for a cartographical work. Along such lines the name of the Roman goddess of flowers was used in the title of Latin works dealing with the cultivation of plants, as Flora, seu de florum cultura libri quattuor (Rome, 1633) by the Jesuit scholar Giovanni Battista Ferrari (1584-1655). A book by the Danish physician and naturalist Simon Paulli (1603-80) entitled Flora Danica, Det er: Dansk urtebog ("Danish Flora, that is, a Danish herbal book") (Copenhagen, 1648) described the medicinal plants of Denmark. Here the name Flora is used as a sort of metonym for the plants of the country, a usage also taken up in a Latin poem introducing the work, in which Balthica Flora ("Baltic Flora") is described as bringing forth "swelling sprouts" (turgentia germina) from her bosom. Similar uses of Flora followed, as in the Flora Sinensis ("Chinese Flora") (Vienna, 1656) by the Polish Jesuit Michał Boym (ca. 1612-59). In the eighteenth century flora began to be used generically outside of book titles as a collective name for the plants of a region or habitat. For details. and examples of Flora used metonymically in seventeenth-century Latin prose, see Dominik Beerens, "The Meaning of Flora," Humanistica Lovaniensia, vol. 68, no. 1 (Spring, 2019), pp. 237-49.