Flora

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For other uses, see Flora (disambiguation).
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Plant species diversity

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 indigenousnative 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.[1][2][3]
Contents

1 Etymology

2 Flora classifications

3 Documentation of floras

4 Flora on Wikipedia

5 See also

6 References

7 External links

Etymology
"Flora" comes from the Latin name of Flora, the goddess of plants, flowers, and
fertility in Roman mythology.
Flora classifications
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 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
Main article: Flora (publication)

Floristic regions in Europe according to Wolfgang Frey and Rainer Lsch

Plants

A fossil leaf from the extinct Comptonia columbiana, 48.5 million years old. Klondike
Mountain Formation, Republic, Ferry County, Washington, USA. Stonerose
Interpretive Center.
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 Micha Boym was the first book
that used the name "Flora" in this meaning, a book covering the plant world of a
region.[4] 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.
Flora on Wikipedia
Wikipedia has the following mainly flora categories:

Flora by continent

Flora by country

Flora by region

Australasia
Africa
Antarctica
Asia
Europe
South
America
North
America
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

Pharmacopoeia

The Plant List

Vegetation a general term for the plant life of a region.