Flora (: floras or florae) is all the

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. The corresponding term for animals is '' fauna'', and for

fungi A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

, it is '' funga''. Sometimes

bacteria Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...

and

are also referred to as flora as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora'' for purposes of specificity.

Etymology

The word "flora" comes from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

name of

Flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

, the goddess of

s, flowers, and fertility in

Roman mythology Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these representations, and to th ...

. The technical term "flora" is then derived from a

metonymy Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something associated with that thing or concept. For example, the word " suit" may refer to a person from groups commonly wearing business attire, such as sales ...

of this goddess at the end of the sixteenth century. It was first used in poetry to denote the natural vegetation of an area, but soon also assumed the meaning of a work cataloguing such vegetation. Moreover, "Flora" was used to refer to the flowers of an artificial garden in the seventeenth century. The distinction between vegetation (the general appearance of a community) and flora (the taxonomic composition of a community) was first made by Jules Thurmann (1849). Prior to this, the two terms were used interchangeably.Thurmann, J. (1849). ''Essai de Phytostatique appliqué à la chaîne du Jura et aux contrées voisines.'' Berne: Jent et Gassmann

.Martins, F. R. & Batalha, M. A. (2011). Formas de vida, espectro biológico de Raunkiaer e fisionomia da vegetação. In: Felfili, J. M., Eisenlohr, P. V.; Fiuza de Melo, M. M. R.; Andrade, L. A.; Meira Neto, J. A. A. (Org.). ''Fitossociologia no Brasil: métodos e estudos de caso.'' Vol. 1. Viçosa: Editora UFV. p. 44–85

. Earlier version, 2003

.

Classifications

Plants are grouped into floras based on region ( Phytochorion, floristic regions), period, special environment, or climate. Regions can be distinct habitats like mountain vs. flatland. Floras can mean plant life of a historic era as in ''fossil flora''. Lastly, floras may be subdivided by special environments: *''Native flora''. The native and indigenous flora of an area. *''Agricultural and horticultural flora (garden flora)''. The plants that are deliberately grown by humans. *''Weed flora''. Traditionally this classification was applied to plants regarded as undesirable and studied in efforts to control or eradicate them. Today the designation is less often used as a classification of plant life since it includes three different types of plants: weedy species, invasive species (that may or may not be weedy), and native and introduced non-weedy species that are agriculturally undesirable. Many native plants previously considered weeds have been shown to be beneficial or even necessary to various ecosystems.

Documentation

The flora of a particular area or time period can be documented in a publication also known as a "

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

" (often capitalized as "Flora" to distinguish the two meanings when they might be confused). Floras may require specialist botanical knowledge to use with any effectiveness. Traditionally they are

book A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, ...

s, but some are now published on

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...

website A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...

s. Simon Paulli's ''Flora Danica'' of 1648 is probably the first book titled "Flora" to refer to the plant world of a certain region. It mainly describes medicinal plants growing in Denmark. The '' Flora Sinensis'' by the Polish

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Michał Boym is another early example of a book titled "Flora".Flora Sinensis
(access to the facsimile of the book, its French translation, and an article about it) However, despite its title it covered not only plants but also some animals of the region, that is China and India. A published flora often contains diagnostic keys. Often these are ''dichotomous'' keys, which require the user to examine a plant repeatedly, and decide which one of two alternatives given best applies to the plant.

References

External links

''eFloras'' — a collection of on-line floras

Flora of NW Europe
with descriptions and a quiz to test your knowledge

Flora of New Zealand Series Online

E-Flora of Kerala by N Sasidharan
{{Authority control Botanical nomenclature Ecology terminology Habitat Organisms

Etymology

Classifications

Documentation

See also

References

External links