Meaning & use
flora
Last updated
Meaning
noununcountabletechnical
All the plants of a particular area, time, or environment, considered as a group.
Grammar: Uncountable: use with a singular verb, e.g. 'The flora is diverse.' Do not say 'a flora' or 'floras' in this sense.
Patterns
- the flora of a region
- local flora
- flora and fauna
The island's flora includes many rare orchids.
Scientists studied the flora of the rainforest.
The book describes the flora and fauna of the region.
Common combinations
- flora and fauna
- The park is home to a rich variety of flora and fauna.
- native flora
- The garden features only native flora.
- gut flora
- Antibiotics can affect the gut flora.
- flora of a region
- She wrote a guide to the flora of the Alps.
Synonyms and how they differ
- vegetation
- Vegetation refers to plants in general, often in a physical sense; flora is more technical and often used in scientific or environmental contexts.
- plant life
- Plant life is a plain, everyday term; flora is the technical term used in biology.
Opposites
Word family
- floral adjective
- Relating to flowers.
Commonly confused: flora or fauna?
flora vs fauna
Fauna means the animals of a region, while flora means the plants.
Practice
The ___ of the desert includes many plants that need very little water.
Choose one answer.
Flora means the plants of a region. Fauna means animals, floral is an adjective meaning relating to flowers, and a florist is a person who sells flowers.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “flora”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.