An ancient Roman goddess of flowers and flowering plants, who appears with the Spring. She was given a temple in 238 BC, and her games were celebrated on 28 April.
For other uses, see flora (disambiguation).
In botany, flora (plural: floras or florae) has two meanings. The first meaning, or flora of an area or time period, refers to all plant life occurring in an area or time
period, especially the naturally occurring or indigenous plant life. The second meaning refers to a book or other work which describes the plant species occurring in an area or time
period, with the aim of allowing identification. Some classic and modern floras are listed below.
The term flora comes from Latin Flora, the goddess of flowers in Roman mythology. In relation to all the flora and fauna of a region, it is collectively referred to as biota.
Flora classifications
Plants are grouped into floras depending on region, period, or special environment. Floras can mean plant life of an historic era as in fossil flora. Lastly, floras may be subdivided by
special environments:
Native flora. The native and indigenous flora of an area. 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.
Bacterial life is sometimes included in a flora .
Flora treatises
Traditionally floras are books, but some are now published on CD-ROM or websites. The area that a flora covers may be either geographically or politically defined.
A flora often contains a diagnostic key. These require the user to repeatedly examine a plant, and decide which one of two alternatives given in the flora best applies to the plant.
Classic floras
Europe Paulli, Simon.
Flora Danica.
Flora Jenensis Germany, 1718.
Flora Scorer.
Flora Suecica.
Flora Javae.
Modern floras
Americas
Caribbean Britton, N. South America
Flora Brasiliensis Flora of São Paulo in Brazil
Flora de Chile Manual de Plantas de Costa Rica Flora of Ecuador
Flora of Guatemala Flora de Nicaragua Flora of Peru Flora of the Guianas Flora of Panama Flora del Paraguay Flora of Suriname Flora
Mesoamericana (1994-ongoing) Introduction
Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana Flora Neotropica (1968-ongoing) Organising committee website. North America
Flora of North
America Kearney, Thomas H.
Flora of Alaska and Neighboring Territories: A Manual of the Vascular Plants.
Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas.
Flora of the Pacific
Northwest.
Flora of West Virginia.
An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada. ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Asia
China and Japan
Flora of China.
Flora of Japan Southeast Asia
Flora of the Malay Peninsula Florae Siamensis Enumeratio Flora Malesiana (1984-ongoing) About
Flora Malesiana. Indian region and Sri Lanka Flora of Bhutan Flora of Cambodia Flora of Nepalthe Presidency of Madras by J.S. Prain (1903) Flora of the upper Gangetic plains by J. Haines
(1921-25) Flora of British India (1872-1897) by Sir J.D. Hooker Middle East and western Asia Flora of Turkey Flora Iranica Flora Palaestina: M. Flora Palaestina part 1. Flora Palaestina part 2.
Flora Palaestina part 3. Flora Palaestina part 4. Distribution Atlas of Plants in the Flora Palaestina Area (Flora Palaestina part 5). Online updates:
http://flora.huji.ac.il/browse.asp?lang=en&action=showfile&fileid=14005
Australasia
Flora of Australia Flora of New Zealand series: Allan, H.H.
Flora of New Zealand. Flora of New Zealand. Flora of New Zealand Volume III.
Flora of New Zealand Volume
IV: Naturalised Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms, Dicotyledons. ISBN 0-477-02529-3.
Flora of New Zealand Volume V: Grasses. ISBN 0-478-09331-4.
Flora of New Zealand: Lichens. ISBN
0-477-01266-3.
Flora of New Zealand: Desmids. Flora of New Zealand: Desmids.
Flora of New Zealand: Desmids. Kermadec Islands Flora - Special Edition.
Pacific Islands
Flora Vitiensis Nova, a New Flora of Fiji Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai‘i, Warren L.
A New Flora of the British Isles.
Urban Flora of Belfast.
Flora
of Oxfordshire.
The Flora of Dorset. Flora Celtica Plants and people in Celtic Europe Flora Europaea at the site of The Royal Botanical Gardens of Edinburgh Flora Europaea Flora of
Europe Flora iberica Flora of Acores Flora Danica
Africa and Madagascar
Flore du Gabon Flore du Cameroun Flora of Tropical Africa Flora Capensis Flora Zambesiaca Flora of South Africa Flore du Rwanda Flore de Madagascar et des Comores
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