flora

noun

flo·​ra ˈflȯr-ə 

plural floras also florae ˈflȯr-ˌē  -ˌī 

1

: a treatise on or list of the plants of an area or period

2

: plant, bacterial, or fungal life

especially : such life characteristic of a region, period, or special environment

fossil flora

intestinal flora

compare fauna

Did you know?

You may be familiar with the common phrase “flora and fauna,” which broadly refers to just about every visible living thing. While fauna specifically refers to the animals of a region, flora represents the plants. Flora made its way into English from New Latin via the Latin word flōra, which comes from the name of the Roman goddess of flowers and the flowering season (the time of the year when flowers bloom). Flora, who was depicted as a beautiful young woman in a long, flowing dress with flowers in her hair, strewing flowers over the earth, was especially known for wildflowers and plants not raised for food. Her name also lives on and continues to thrive through the related words floral, floret, and flourish.

Synonyms

• vegetation
• foliage

Examples of flora in a Sentence

an amazing variety of coastal flora

the floras of different coastal regions

Recent Examples on the Web

Most recently Tarella drew a forest of animals and plants for the surprising urban oasis in Bantian Vanke Plaza mall in Shenzhen, China, reflecting his lifelong admiration for fauna and flora. —Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 8 Sep. 2025

Similarly, Arizona’s native flora and fauna have their own obstacles to survival in one of the world’s most unforgiving landscapes. —John Leos, AZCentral.com, 3 Sep. 2025

Meanwhile, the virtuous, near-immortal elves of Lothlórien are depicted living peacefully in a realm of lush flora and elaborate tree-houses. —Ellen Walker, JSTOR Daily, 3 Sep. 2025

Gussied up with carob trees and Mediterranean flora, the rooftop here is something else, with a deep-green infinity pool (one of three on-site) and plenty of perches for golden-hour drinks. —Nicole Trilivas, Travel + Leisure, 2 Sep. 2025

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.

First Known Use

1777, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for flora

• aura
• bora
• cora
• fora
• gora
• hora
• kora
• laura
• lora
• mora
• ora
• torah

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Kids Definition

flora

noun

flo·​ra ˈflōr-ə 

ˈflȯr-

plural floras also florae ˈflō(ə)r-ˌē 

ˈflȯ(ə)r-,

-ˌī

: plants or plant life especially of a region, period, or environment

Medical Definition

flora

noun

flo·​ra ˈflōr-ə, ˈflȯr- 

plural floras also florae ˈflō(ə)r-ˌē  ˈflȯ(ə)r- 

-ˌī

1

: plant life

especially : the plants characteristic of a region, period, or special environment

fossil flora

compare fauna

2

: the microorganisms (as bacteria or fungi) living in or on the body

the beneficial flora of the intestine

potentially harmful skin flora

floral

ˈflōr-əl, ˈflȯr- 

adjective