FLORA

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

Irregular inflected form: florae

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(botany) a living organism lacking the power of locomotion

Synonyms:

flora; plant; plant life

Classified under:

Nouns with no superordinates

Hypernyms ("flora" is a kind of...):

being; organism (a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently)

Meronyms (parts of "flora"):

cap; hood (a protective covering that is part of a plant)

plant part; plant structure (any part of a plant or fungus)

Domain category:

botany; phytology (the branch of biology that studies plants)

Domain member category:

botanical medicine; herbal therapy; phytotherapy (the use of plants or plant extracts for medicinal purposes (especially plants that are not part of the normal diet))

micro-organism; microorganism (any organism of microscopic size)

parasite (an animal or plant that lives in or on a host (another animal or plant); it obtains nourishment from the host without benefiting or killing the host)

coca (dried leaves of the coca plant (and related plants that also contain cocaine); chewed by Andean people for their stimulating effect)

fugaciousness; fugacity (the lack of enduring qualities (used chiefly of plant parts))

circulation (free movement or passage (as of cytoplasm within a cell or sap through a plant))

botany; flora; vegetation (all the plant life in a particular region or period)

squamule (a minute scale)

nitrification (the oxidation of ammonium compounds in dead organic material into nitrates and nitrites by soil bacteria (making nitrogen available to plants))

perennation (the process of living through a number of years (as a perennial plant))

photosynthesis (synthesis of compounds with the aid of radiant energy (especially in plants))

alder blight (a disease of alders caused by the woolly alder aphid (a plant louse))

peroxidase (any of a group of enzymes (occurring especially in plant cells) that catalyze the oxidation of a compound by a peroxide)

tenderiser; tenderizer (a substance (as the plant enzyme papain) applied to meat to make it tender)

propagate (cause to propagate, as by grafting or layering)

etiolate (bleach and alter the natural development of (a green plant) by excluding sunlight)

bruise (damage (plant tissue) by abrasion or pressure)

cultivate; domesticate; naturalise; naturalize; tame (adapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment)

accrete (grow together (of plants and organs))

deaden; girdle (cut a girdle around so as to kill by interrupting the circulation of water and nutrients)

acid-loving (thriving in a relatively acidic environment (especially of plants requiring a pH well below 7))

alkaline-loving (thriving in a relatively alkaline environment; (especially of plants requiring a pH above 7))

apocarpous ((of ovaries of flowering plants) consisting of carpels that are free from one another as in buttercups or roses)

syncarpous ((of ovaries of flowering plants) consisting of united carpels)

sedgy (covered with sedges (grasslike marsh plants))

floccose ((of plants) having tufts of soft woolly hairs)

hispid ((of animals or plants) having stiff coarse hairs or bristles)

pappose ((of plants such as dandelions and thistles) having pappi or tufts of featherlike hairs or delicate bristles)

carnivorous ((used of plants as well as animals) feeding on animals)

saprophytic ((of some plants or fungi) feeding on dead or decaying organic matter)

insectivorous ((of animals and plants) feeding on insects)

blanched; etiolate; etiolated ((especially of plants) developed without chlorophyll by being deprived of light)

tender ((of plants) not hardy; easily killed by adverse growing condition)

dicotyledonous ((of a flowering plant) having two cotyledons in the seed)

monocotyledonous ((of a flowering plant) having a single cotyledon in the seed as in grasses and lilies)

evergreen ((of plants and shrubs) bearing foliage throughout the year)

deciduous ((of plants and shrubs) shedding foliage at the end of the growing season)

campylotropous ((of a plant ovule) curved with the micropyle near the base almost touching its stalk)

orthotropous ((of a plant ovule) completely straight with the micropyle at the apex)

anatropous; inverted ((of a plant ovule) completely inverted; turned back 180 degrees on its stalk)

amphitropous ((of a plant ovule) partly inverted; turned back 90 degrees on its stalk)

epiphytotic ((of plants) epidemic among plants of a single kind especially over a wide area)

amentaceous; amentiferous ((of plants) bearing or characterized by aments or catkins)

half-hardy ((of plants) requiring protection from frost)

gregarious ((of plants) growing in groups that are close together)

clustered (growing close together but not in dense mats)

ungregarious ((of plants) growing together in groups that are not close together)

caespitose; cespitose; tufted ((of plants) growing in small dense clumps or tufts)

leggy; tall-growing ((of plants) having tall spindly stems)

endangered ((of flora or fauna) in imminent danger of extinction)

threatened ((of flora or fauna) likely in the near future to become endangered)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "flora"):

myrmecophyte (plant that affords shelter or food to ants that live in symbiotic relations with it)

autophyte; autophytic plant; autotroph; autotrophic organism (plant capable of synthesizing its own food from simple organic substances)

rock plant (plant that grows on or among rocks or is suitable for a rock garden)

aerophyte; air plant; epiphyte; epiphytic plant (plant that derives moisture and nutrients from the air and rain; usually grows on another plant but not parasitic on it)

poisonous plant (a plant that when touched or ingested in sufficient quantity can be harmful or fatal to an organism)

tracheophyte; vascular plant (green plant having a vascular system: ferns, gymnosperms, angiosperms)

garden plant (any of a variety of plants usually grown especially in a flower or herb garden)

houseplant (any of a variety of plants grown indoors for decorative purposes)

gametophyte (the gamete-bearing individual or phase in the life cycle of a plant having alternation of generations)

sporophyte (the spore-producing individual or phase in the life cycle of a plant having alternation of generations)

monocarp; monocarpic plant; monocarpous plant (a plant that bears fruit once and dies)

embryo ((botany) a minute rudimentary plant contained within a seed or an archegonium)

neophyte (a plant that is found in an area where it had not been recorded previously)

hygrophyte (a plant that grows in a moist habitat)

escape (a plant originally cultivated but now growing wild)

perennial ((botany) a plant lasting for three seasons or more)

phytoplankton (photosynthetic or plant constituent of plankton; mainly unicellular algae)

microflora (microscopic plants; bacteria are often considered to be microflora)

crop (a cultivated plant that is grown commercially on a large scale)

endemic (a plant that is native to a certain limited area)

holophyte (an organism that produces its own food by photosynthesis)

non-flowering plant (a plant that does not bear flowers)

plantlet (a young plant or a small plant)

wilding (a wild uncultivated plant (especially a wild apple or crabapple tree))

ornamental (any plant grown for its beauty or ornamental value)

pot plant (a plant suitable for growing in a flowerpot (especially indoors))

acrogen (any flowerless plant such as a fern (pteridophyte) or moss (bryophyte) in which growth occurs only at the tip of the main stem)

apomict (a plant that reproduces or is reproduced by apomixis)

aquatic (a plant that lives in or on water)

cryptogam (formerly recognized taxonomic group including all flowerless and seedless plants that reproduce by means of spores: ferns, mosses, algae, fungi)

annual ((botany) a plant that completes its entire life cycle within the space of a year)

biennial ((botany) a plant having a life cycle that normally takes two seasons from germination to death to complete; flowering biennials usually bloom and fruit in the second season)

Holonyms ("flora" is a member of...):

kingdom Plantae; plant kingdom; Plantae ((botany) the taxonomic kingdom comprising all living or extinct plants)

Derivation:

floral (of or relating to the plant life in a particular region)

Sense 2

Meaning:

All the plant life in a particular region or period

Example:

the botany of China

Synonyms:

botany; flora; vegetation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("flora" is a kind of...):

accumulation; aggregation; assemblage; collection (several things grouped together or considered as a whole)

Domain category:

flora; plant; plant life ((botany) a living organism lacking the power of locomotion)

Domain member category:

cut; mown ((used of grass or vegetation) cut down with a hand implement or machine)

uncut; unmown ((used of grass or vegetation) not cut down with a hand implement or machine)

sprouted ((of growing vegetation) having just emerged from the ground)

dried-up; sear; sere; shriveled; shrivelled; withered ((used especially of vegetation) having lost all moisture)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "flora"):

ground cover; groundcover (low-growing plants planted in deep shade or on a steep slope where turf is difficult to grow)

brier; brier patch; brierpatch (tangled mass of prickly plants)

garden (the flowers or vegetables or fruits or herbs that are cultivated in a garden)

shrubbery (a collection of shrubs growing together)

forest; wood; woods (the trees and other plants in a large densely wooded area)

stand (a growth of similar plants (usually trees) in a particular area)

bush; chaparral; scrub (dense vegetation consisting of stunted trees or bushes)

growth (vegetation that has grown)

brush; brushwood; coppice; copse; thicket (a dense growth of bushes)

browse (vegetation (such as young shoots, twigs, and leaves) that is suitable for animals to eat)

Holonyms ("flora" is a member of...):

biology; biota (all the plant and animal life of a particular region)

Antonym:

fauna (all the animal life in a particular region or period)

Credits

Context examples:

Also called gut flora, gut microflora, intestinal flora, and intestinal microflora.

(Microflora, NCI Dictionary)

C. striatum is commensal in the skin and nasal flora and is a pathogen known to cause bacteremia in immunocompromised patients with respiratory infections, skin ulcers, or during surgery.

(Corynebacterium striatum, NCI Thesaurus)

Most are a part of normal skin flora.

(Corynebacterium, NCI Thesaurus)

C. propinquum is commensal to the oropharyngeal flora.

(Corynebacterium propinquum, NCI Thesaurus)

B. capillosus is commensal and part of the normal human gastrointestinal tract flora, but may become pathogenic in other body regions.

(Bacteroides capillosus, NCI Thesaurus)

B. fragilis is commensal and part of the normal human gastrointestinal tract flora, but may become pathogenic in other body regions.

(Bacteroides fragilis, NCI Thesaurus)

B. caccae is commensal and part of the normal human gastrointestinal tract flora, but may become pathogenic in other body regions.

(Bacteroides caccae, NCI Thesaurus)

As antibodies that occur naturally due to sensitization to alpha-Gal present on symbiotic bacterial flora, anti-alpha-Gal Igs are present in unusually high amounts in human sera.

(Alpha-Gal Glycosphingolipids, NCI Thesaurus)

A. segnis is a commensal organism of the oral flora and is rarely pathogenic.

(Aggregatibacter segnis, NCI Thesaurus)

A genus of bacteria within the phylum Bacteroidetes consisting of gram-negative bacilli or cocco-bacilli that comprise a major portion of the human normal flora, predominating in the intestinal tract.