flora

Flora is the collective plant life of a particular region, habitat, or geological time, including the species that occur there and their distribution, abundance, and ecological relationships. In common usage, flora denotes regional plant life; in botanical literature, it often refers to a systematic compendium that describes all known plants of a region, with keys, illustrations, and nomenclature. Regional floras may be specific to a country, biome, or island group, and may emphasize certain groups or be comprehensive.

Floras are produced by floristic surveys, herbarium work, and taxonomic research. Their contents typically include species checklists, descriptions, distribution maps, habitat notes, flowering times, and conservation status. They underpin biodiversity studies, environmental assessments, and conservation planning, and they provide a framework for comparing plant diversity across regions and time.

Distribution patterns documented in floras depend on climate, geology, soils, and evolutionary history, and floras help reveal endemism and biogeographic relationships. Plant life supports ecosystems through primary production, habitat structure, and nutrient cycling, and interacts with animal life via pollination, seed dispersal, and symbiotic associations such as mycorrhizae.

Threats to flora include habitat destruction, climate change, invasive species, and overexploitation. Conservation approaches include protected areas, habitat restoration, and ex situ methods such as seed banks and living collections. Notable floras include the Flora of China, Flora Europaea, and Flora of North America, among others. The study of flora—floristics—integrates taxonomy, geography, and ecology to understand plant diversity across space and time.