Flora - wikipedia Flora For other uses, see Flora ( disambiguation ). This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( August 2009 ) Simplified schematic of an island 's flora - all its plant species, highlighted in boxes. Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous -- native plant life. The corresponding term for animal life is fauna. Flora, fauna and other forms of life such as fungi are collectively referred to as biota. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms gut flora or skin flora. Contents 1 Etymology 2 Flora classifications 3 Documentation of floras 4 See also 5 References 6 External links Etymology The word `` flora '' comes from the Latin name of Flora, the goddess of plants, flowers, and fertility in Roman mythology. 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 indiscriminately. Flora classifications Plants are grouped into floras based on region ( 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 of floras The botanical continents of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, used for classifying floras geographically Main article : Flora ( publication ) Floristic regions in Europe according to Wolfgang Frey and Rainer Lösch The flora of a particular area or time period can be documented in a publication also known as a `` flora '' ( 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 books, but some are now published on CD - ROM or websites. It is said that the Flora Sinensis by the Polish Jesuit Michał Boym was the first book that used the name `` Flora '' in this meaning, a book covering the plant world of a region. However, despite its title it covered not only plants, but also some animals of the region. A published flora often contains diagnostic keys. Often these are dichotomous keys, which require the user to repeatedly examine a plant, and decide which one of two alternatives given best applies to the plant. See also Environment portal Ecology portal Earth sciences portal Biology portal Biome -- a major regional group of distinctive plant and animal communities Fauna Fauna and Flora Preservation Society Herbal Horticultural flora Megaflora Pharmacopoeia The Plant List Vegetation -- a general term for the plant life of a region Categories Flora by continent Flora by country Flora by region References Jump up ^ `` Merriam Webster Online Dictionary ''. Jump up ^ Clifford E. Starliper ; Rita Villella ; Patricia Morrison ; Jay Mathais. `` Sampling the bacterial flora of freshwater mussels '' ( PDF ). Jump up ^ John, D.M. ; Whitton, B.A. ; Brook, A.J. ( 2002 ). The Freshwater Algal Flora of the British Isles : An Identification Guid to Freshwater and Terrestrial Algae. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521770514. Jump up ^ Rengel, Kathleen N. Daly ; revised by Marian ; Daly, Kathleen ( 2009 ). Greek and Roman mythology, A to Z ( 3rd ed. ). New York : Chelsea House Publishers. ISBN 1604134127. Jump up ^ Thurmann, J. ( 1849 ). Essai de Phytostatique appliqué à la chaîne du Jura et aux contrées voisines. Berne : Jent et Gassmann, ( 1 ). Jump up ^ 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. ( 2 ). Earlier version, 2003, ( 3 ). Jump up ^ Flora Sinensis Archived 2010 - 02 - 06 at the Wayback Machine. ( access to the facsimile of the book, its French translation, and an article about it ) External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flora. eFloras -- a collection of on - line floras Chilebosque -- checklist of Chilean native flora Flora of NW Europe with descriptions and a quiz to test your knowledge Flora of Australia Online Flora of New Zealand Series Online Elements of nature Universe Space Time Energy Matter Change Earth Earth science History ( geological ) Structure Geology Plate tectonics Oceans Gaia hypothesis Future Weather Meteorology Atmosphere ( Earth ) Climate Clouds Sunlight Tides Wind Natural environment Ecology Ecosystem Field Radiation Wilderness Wildfires Life Origin ( abiogenesis ) Evolutionary history Biosphere Hierarchy Biology ( astrobiology ) Organism Eukaryota flora plants fauna animals fungi protista Prokaryotes archaea bacteria Viruses Category : Nature Portal : Science Botany History of botany Subdisciplines Plant systematics Ethnobotany Paleobotany Plant anatomy Plant ecology Phytogeography Geobotany Flora Phytochemistry Plant pathology Bryology Phycology Floristics Dendrology Plant groups Algae Archaeplastida Bryophyte Non-vascular plants Vascular plants Spermatophytes Pteridophyte Gymnosperm Angiosperm Plant morphology ( glossary ) Plant cells Cell wall Phragmoplast Plastid Plasmodesma Vacuole Tissues Meristem Vascular tissue Vascular bundle Ground tissue Mesophyll Cork Wood Storage organs Vegetative Root Rhizoid Bulb Rhizome Shoot Stem Leaf Petiole Cataphyll Bud Sessility Reproductive ( Flower ) Flower development Inflorescence Umbel Raceme Bract Pedicellate Flower Whorl Floral symmetry Floral diagram Floral formula Receptacle Hypanthium ( Floral cup ) Perianth Tepal Petal Sepal Sporophyll Gynoecium Ovary Ovule Stigma Archegonium Androecium Stamen Staminode Pollen Tapetum Gynandrium Gametophyte Sporophyte Plant embryo Fruit Fruit anatomy Berry Capsule Seed Seed dispersal Endosperm Surface structures Epicuticular wax Plant cuticle Epidermis Stoma Nectary Trichome Prickle Plant physiology Materials Nutrition Photosynthesis Chlorophyll Plant hormone Transpiration Turgor pressure Bulk flow Aleurone Phytomelanin Sugar Sap Starch Cellulose Plant growth and habit Secondary growth Woody plants Herbaceous plants Habit Vines Lianas Shrubs Subshrubs Trees Succulent plants Reproduction Evolution Ecology Alternation of generations Sporangium Spore Microsporangia Microspore Megasporangium Megaspore Pollination Pollinators Pollen tube Double fertilization Germination Evolutionary development Evolutionary history timeline Hardiness zone Plant taxonomy History of plant systematics Herbarium Biological classification Botanical nomenclature Botanical name Correct name Author citation International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants ( ICN ) - for Cultivated Plants ( ICNCP ) Taxonomic rank International Association for Plant Taxonomy ( IAPT ) Plant taxonomy systems Cultivated plant taxonomy Citrus taxonomy cultigen cultivar Group grex Practice Agronomy Floriculture Forestry Horticulture Lists Related topics Botanical terms Botanists by author abbreviation Botanical expedition Commons Portal WikiProject Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flora&oldid=806665034 '' Categories : Botanical nomenclature Ecology terminology Flora Habitat Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Articles needing additional references from August 2009 All articles needing additional references All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from December 2015 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Alemannisch Asturianu Azərbaycanca Bân - lâm - gú Беларуская Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Български Bosanski Brezhoneg Català Čeština Dansk Davvisámegiella Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Galego 한국어 Հայերեն हिन्दी Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Interlingue Íslenska Italiano עברית ქართული Қазақша Kurdî Кыргызча Latviešu Lietuvių Limburgs Magyar Македонски მარგალური Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk Occitan Picard Polski Português Română Русский Scots Shqip Simple English Slovenčina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Tagalog తెలుగు Тоҷикӣ Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt Võro Winaray Zazaki 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 23 October 2017, at 12 : 43. 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Question: what is the meaning of flora and fauna
Answer: Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animal life is fauna.