Flora

In botany, ***flora*** (plural: floras or florae) has two meanings.

The first meaning refers **Flowers**, Flower Goddess and plant life in an area or time period (especially the naturally occurring or indigenous plant life). The corresponding term for animal life is fauna.

The second meaning refers to a _book or other work_ which describes the plant species in an area or time period, with the aim of allowing identification.

The term flora comes from the Latin language. Flora was the goddess of flowers in Roman mythology.

Plants are grouped into floras based on region, period, special environment, or climate. Regions can be geographically distinct habitats like mountain vs. flatland. Floras can mean plant life of an historic era as in _fossil flora_.

Bacterial organisms are sometimes included in a flora http://webster.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?va=flora  http://biology.usgs.gov/s+t/SNT/noframe/zy198.htm#F . Other times, the terms _bacterial flora_ and _plant flora_ are used separately.

### Classic floras

- Europe
- _Flora Londinensis_, William Curtis. England 1777- 1798
- _Flora Graeca_, John Sibthorp. (England) 1806 - 1840
- _Flora Danica_, Simon Paulli. Denmark, 1847.
- _Flora Jenensis_, Heinrich Bernhard Rupp Germany, 1718.
- _Flora Scorer_, Paolo Di Canio. 1723.
- _Flora Suecica_, Carolus Linnaeus. 1745.

- India
- _Hortus indicus malabaricus_, Hendrik van Rheede 1683–1703

- Indonesia
- _Flora Javae_, Carl Ludwig Blume and Joanne Baptista Fischer. 1828.

#### Americas

- Caribbean
- Britton, N. L., and Percy Wilson. _Scientific Survey of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands — Volume V, Part 1: Botany of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands: Pandanales to Thymeleales_. New York: New York Academy of Sciences, 1924.

- Central & South America
- _Flora Brasiliensis_
- _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. _Arizona Flora_. University of California Press, 1940.
- Hickman, James C., editor. _The Jepson Manual: Higher Plants of California_. University of California Press, 1993.
- Hultén, Eric. _Flora of Alaska and Neighboring Territories: A Manual of the Vascular Plants_. Stanford University Press, 1968.
- Radford, Albert E. _Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas_. University of North Carolina Press, 1968.
- Hitchcock, C. Leo, and Arthur Cronquist. _Flora of the Pacific Northwest_. University of Washington Press, 1973.
- Chadde, Steve W., and Steve Chadde. _A Great Lakes Wetland Flora_. 2nd ed. Pocketflora Press, 2002.
- P. D. Strausbaugh and Earl L. Core. _Flora of West Virginia_. 2nd ed. Seneca Books Inc., 1964.
- Ann Fouler Rhoads and Timothy A. Block. _The Plants of Pennsylvania_. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2000.
- Nathaniel Lord Britton and Hon. Addison Brown. _An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada_. In three volumes. Dover Publications, 1913, 1970.

#### Asia

- China and Japan
- _Flora of China_
- _Flora of China in eFloras_
- _Flora of Japan_
- Southeast Asia
- _Flora of Thailand_
- _Florae Siamensis Enumeratio_
- _Flora Malesiana_
- _Flora of the Malay Peninsula_
- _Flore du Cambodge, du Laos et du Viêt-Nam_
- Indian region and Sri Lanka
- _Flora of Bhutan_
- Flora of the Presidency of Madras by J.S. Gamble (1915-36)
- _Flora of Nepal_
- Bengal Plants by D. Prain (1903)
- Flora of the upper Gangetic plains by J. F. Duthie (1903-29)
- Botany of Bihar and Orissa by H.H. 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. Zohary (1966). Flora Palaestina part 1.
    - M. Zohary (1972). Flora Palaestina part 2.
    - N. Feinbrun (1978). Flora Palaestina part 3.
    - N. Feinbrun (1986). Flora Palaestina part 4.
    - A. Danin, (2004). 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_ series
- _Flora of New Zealand_ series:
    - Allan, H.H. 1961, reprinted 1982. _Flora of New Zealand. Volume I: Indigenous Tracheophyta - Psilopsida, Lycopsida, Filicopsida, Gymnospermae, Dicotyledons._ .
    - Moore, L.B.; Edgar, E. 1970, reprinted 1976. _Flora of New Zealand. Volume II: Indigenous Tracheophyta - Monocotyledons except Graminae._ .
    - Healy, A.J.; Edgar, E. 1980. _Flora of New Zealand Volume III. Adventive Cyperaceous, Petalous & Spathaceous Monocotyledons._ .
    - Webb, C.J.; Sykes, W.R.;Garnock-Jones, P.J. 1988. _Flora of New Zealand Volume IV: Naturalised Pteridophytes, Gymnosperms, Dicotyledons._ .
    - Edgar, E.; Connor, H.E. 2000. _Flora of New Zealand Volume V: Grasses._ .
    - Volumes I-V: First electronic edition, Landcare Research, June 2004. Transcribed by A.D. Wilton and I.M.L. Andres.
- Galloway, D.J. 1985. _Flora of New Zealand: Lichens._ .
- Croasdale, H.; Flint, E.A. 1986. _Flora of New Zealand: Desmids. Volume I._ .
- Croasdale, H.; Flint, E.A. 1988. _Flora of New Zealand: Desmids. Volume II._ .
- Croasdale, H.; Flint, E.A.;Racine, M.M. 1994. _Flora of New Zealand: Desmids. Volume III._ .
- Sykes, W.R.; West, C.J.; Beever, J.E.; Fife, A.J. 2000. _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. Wagner and Derral R. Herbst (1991) + suppl. http://ravenel.si.edu/botany/pacificislandbiodiversity/hawaiianflora/supplement.htm
- _Flore de la Nouvelle-Calédonie_
- _Flore de la Polynésie Française_ (J. Florence, vol. 1 & 2, 1997 & 2004)

#### Europe

- British Isles
- Morton O. 1994. _Marine Algae of Northern Ireland._ Ulster Museum, Belfast.
- Stace, Clive Anthony, and Hilli Thompson (illustrator). _A New Flora of the British Isles_. 2nd ed. Cambridge University Press, 1997. .
- Beesley S. and J. Wilde. _Urban Flora of Belfast_. Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, Queen's University of Belfast, 1997.
- Killick, John, Roy Perry and Stan Woodell. _Flora of Oxfordshire_. Pisces Publications, 1998. .
- Bowen, Humphry. _The Flora of Dorset_. Pisces Publications, 2000. .
- _Flora Celtica_ Plants and people in Celtic Europe
- Flora Europaea at the site of The Royal Botanical Gardens of Edinburgh
- Flora of Europe
- Flora Iberica
- Flora of Acores
- Flora Danica
- Flora of Romania

#### Africa and Madagascar

- Flore du Gabon
- Flore du Cameroun
- Flora of Tropical Africa
- Flora of Tropical East Africa
- Flora Capensis
- _Flora Zambesiaca_
- Flora of South Africa
- Flore du Rwanda
- Flore de Madagascar et des Comores

## Related pages

- Biome — a major regional group of distinctive plant and animal communities.
- Vegetation — a general term for the plant life of a region.
- Fauna

## Other websites

- _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 Israel Online
- Flora of Australia Online
- Flora of New Zealand Series Online