What is "flora"

Flora \Flo"ra\, n. [L., the goddess of flowers, from flos, floris, flower. See Flower.]

1. (Rom. Myth.) The goddess of flowers and spring.

2. (Bot.) The complete system of vegetable species growing without cultivation in a given locality, region, or period; a list or description of, or treatise on, such plants.

c.1500, "Roman goddess of flowers;" 1777, "the plant life of a region or epoch," from Latin Flora, "goddess of flowers," from flos (accusative florem, genitive floris) "flower," from *flo-s-, Italic suffixed form of PIE *bhle- "to blossom, flourish" (cognates: Middle Irish blath, Welsh blawd "blossom, flower," Old English blowan "to flower, bloom"), extended form of *bhel- (3) "to thrive, bloom," which is possibly identical with or derived from *bhel- (2) "to blow, swell" (see bole).\n

\nHer festival, the Floralia, was April 28 to May 2 and featured "comic theatrical representations" and "excessive drinking" [Century Dictionary]. The French Revolutionary calendar had a month Floréal (April 20-May 20). Used as the title of systematically descriptive plant catalogues since 1640s, but popularized by Linnaeus in his landmark 1745 study of Swedish plants, "Flora Suecica."

n. 1 plants considered as a group, especially those of a particular country, region, time, etc. 2 a book describing the plants of a country etc. 3 The microorganisms that inhabit some part of the body, such as ''intestinal flora''

1. n. all the plant life in a particular region [syn: vegetation] [ant: fauna]

2. a living organism lacking the power of locomotion [syn: plant, plant life]

3. [also: florae (pl)]

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.

In Roman mythology, Flora was a Sabine-derived goddess of flowers and of the season of spring – a symbol for nature and flowers (especially the may-flower). While she was otherwise a relatively minor figure in Roman mythology, being one among several fertility goddesses, her association with the spring gave her particular importance at the coming of springtime, as did her role as goddess of youth.

1. redirect 8 Flora

In microbiology, flora ( plural: floras or floræ) refers to the collective bacteria and other microorganisms in an ecosystem (e.g., some part of the body of an animal host).

While the term microflora is common, it is technically a misnomer since flora pertains to the kingdom Plantae. Some textbooks now use the term microbiota. Microorganisms with animal-like characteristics are classed as microfauna.

Flora is plant life collectively, as distinct from animal life (fauna).

__NOTOC__ Flora may also refer to:

• Flora (publication), a printed or digital work that describes the plant species occurring in a particular area or region
• Flora (bust), a bust attributed to Leonardo da Vinci
• Flora (margarine), the name in the UK and Ireland for the Becel brand of margarine
• Flora or microbiota, the collective bacteria and other microorganisms in an animal host
• Flora (mythology), a goddess in Roman mythology
• FC Flora Tallinn, a football team in Estonia
• Flora (Titian), a painting by Titian
• Flora (grape), a California wine grape
• Hurricane Flora, one of the deadliest hurricanes on record
• La Flora, a 1628 opera by Marco da Fagliano
• FLORA, an Arduino compatible wearable electronic platform designed by Limor Fried

A Flora is a book or other work which describes the plant species occurring in an area or time period, often with the aim of allowing identification. The term is usually capitalized to distinguish it from the use of " flora" to mean the plants rather than their descriptions. Some classic and modern Floras are listed below.

Traditionally Floras are books, but some are now published on CD-ROM or websites. The area that a Flora covers can be either geographically or politically defined. Floras usually require some specialist botanical knowledge to use with any effectiveness.

A 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 in the Flora best applies to the plant.

Floras produced at a local or regional level rarely contain identification keys. Instead they aim to impart more detailed understanding of the local status and distribution of that area's plants. Maps showing species distribution may be included, and nowadays are computer-generated from biological databases. Specific reference may be made to new arrivals and historic records in order to impart understanding of the changes in an area's vegetation over time.

Flora is a Prague Metro station on Line A. It is located under the shopping mall Palác Flóra, on the border of the Vinohrady and Žižkov districts near the Olšany Cemetery. It was opened in 1980.

Flora is a brand of margarine, sold in the United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Ireland, Finland, Sweden, Spain, Poland, Hungary, Portugal, South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, New Zealand and Australia. It is produced by Unilever and sold in other parts of the world under the brand name of Becel. Unilever came up with the brand after being asked by medical professionals to come up with a healthier alternative to margarine, lard and hard butters.

Flora is the name of two unrelated varieties of grape, one white and one red, both of United States origin.

Flora is a feminine given name. Notable people with the name include:

• Flora Brovina (born 1949), Kosovar poet and pediatrician
• Flora Carabella (1926–1999), Italian actress
• Flora Chan (born 1970), Hong Kong actress
• Flora Coquerel (born 1994), French model
• Flora D. Darpino (born 1961), American judge advocate general
• Flora Eldershaw (1897–1956), Australian writer
• Flora Karimova (born 1941), Azerbaijani singer
• Flora MacDonald (1722–1790), Scottish Jacobite
• Flora MacDonald (1926–2015), Canadian politician
• Flora Martínez (born 1977), Colombian actress
• Flora Martirosian (1957–2012), Armenian singer
• Flora Montgomery (born 1974), British actress
• Flora Murray (1869–1923), British doctor and suffragette
• Flora Nwapa (1931–1993), Nigerian author
• Flora Purim (born 1942), Brazilian singer
• Flora Robson (1902–1984), British actress
• Flora Annie Steel (1847–1929), British writer
• Flora Stevenson (1839–1905), British educational reformer
• Flora Thompson (1876–1947), British writer
• Flora Tristan (1803–1844), French writer and feminist
• Flora Twort (1893–1985), British painter

Flora is a surname. It may refer to :

• Dom Flora, American college basketball player
• Don Flora, American volleyball coach
• Jim Flora, American illustrator
• Jerry Flora, American college football coach
• Snowden D. Flora, American meteorologist, climatologist and tornado researcher

Flora is an oil painting by Italian late Renaissance painter Titian, dated to around 1515 and now held at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

Flora or Saskia as Flora is a 1634 painting by Rembrandt, showing his wife Saskia van Uylenburgh as the goddess Flora. It is now in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg.

This painting was documented by Hofstede de Groot in 1915, who wrote; "206. FLORA. Bode 336 ; Dut. 267 ; Wb. 412 ; B.-HdG. 189. She stands, in profile to the left. She turns her face, which has Saskia's features, with a slight inclination towards the spectator. In her right hand she holds a staff entwined with flowers diagonally before her ; she lifts up her long mantle in front with her left hand. Her hair, adorned with a large garland of flowers, falls in long curls down her back. In her ear is a pearl. She wears a dress of gay pattern with loose sleeves, a scarf crossed on her bosom, and a light blue mantle falling from her shoulders. The light, which is evenly distributed, falls from the left. Thick bushes form a dark background. Life size, three-quarter length. Wrongly called until now "The Jewish Bride." Signed on the left below the right hand, "Rembrandt f. 1634"; canvas, 50 inches by 40 inches. Etched by N. Mossoloff in Les Rembrandts de l'Ermitage ; and in the Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst, viii. Mentioned by Vosmaer, pp. 504, etc. ; by Bode, pp. 424, 60 1 ; by Dutuit, p. 37 ; by Michel, pp. 175, 567 [134, 441]. Sale. Herman Aarentz, Amsterdam, April II, 1770 (2600 florins, bought in) ; according to Van Eynden and Van der Willigen, iii. 384. Acquired by Catherine II., Empress of Russia, for the Hermitage. In the Hermitage Palace, Petrograd, 1901 catalogue, No. 812."