flowering plant

noun

plural flowering plants

: any of a class (Angiospermae) of vascular plants that have male and female reproductive structures enclosed in a flower, that have seeds which arise from ovules contained in the ovaries, and that produce dry or fleshy fruits after double fertilization : angiosperm

The butterflies feed off the nectar of any flowering plant and lay their eggs on what's called a host plant.

—Michael Fitzpatrick

About 75% of all flowering plants rely on animal pollinators and over 200,000 species of animals act as pollinators.

—Steve Smith

Duckweed, the smallest flowering plant, measures less than 5 millimeters across.

—Timothy Cooney et al.

Examples of flowering plant in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For bees and pollinators, any patch of flowering plants in summer works. —Allison Palmer, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 May 2026

Glossy, evergreen foliage provides year-round screening and a gorgeous backdrop to other flowering plants. —Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 27 May 2026

Fewer plants survived the winter, so there are fewer sources of nectar in the wild to feed the moths, which will push them toward communities where folks keep flowering plants alive with irrigation. —Katie Langford, Denver Post, 25 May 2026

Sprinkling crushed eggshells into planting holes is often recommended as a natural gardening hack to boost garden soil, especially for flowering plants like roses. —Gemma Johnstone, The Spruce, 25 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1725, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for flowering plant

• ant
• aunt
• cant
• chant
• gant
• lant
• pant
• quant
• rant
• sant
• scant
• slant

Kids Definition

flowering plant

noun

: any of a major group of higher plants that produce flowers, fruits, and seeds with the seeds in a closed ovary

called also angiosperm

compare seed plant