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

Applying this approach of interplanting cucumbers with radish and/or flowering plants could result in a similar reduction in cucumber beetles. —Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 3 Apr. 2026

Bees of all kinds (with a tiny handful of exceptions) are essential pollinators to an astounding 80 percent of the world’s flowering plants. —Encyclopedia Britannica, 2 Apr. 2026

The roots of all flowering plants on land export a little sugar to feed bacteria. —David George Haskell, Big Think, 27 Mar. 2026

Like all other flowering plants, grasses wrap the embryo and endosperm in layers of maternal tissue. —Literary Hub, 25 Mar. 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