flowerless

Flowerless is a descriptive term in botany used to refer to organisms that do not produce flowers. It is not a formal taxonomic category but a way to distinguish flowering plants, or angiosperms, from those that reproduce without floral structures. In general, flowerless groups include gymnosperms—such as conifers, cycads, ginkgo, and gnetophytes—and various non-flowering plants such as ferns, horsetails, and mosses. Conifers and other gymnosperms produce seeds in cones rather than within flowers, while ferns, mosses, and liverworts reproduce by spores and lack true floral organs.

From an evolutionary standpoint, angiosperms developed flowers to attract pollinators and typically form fruits; they became ecologically dominant in many environments. Flowerless lineages are older on the plant evolutionary tree and remain widespread, occupying a wide range of habitats from forests to wetlands and arctic regions. The term highlights reproductive contrasts rather than implying a single taxonomic grouping, since many distinct lineages share the absence of flowers.

Etymology: the word combines 'flower' with the suffix '-less', indicating the absence of flowers. See also flowering plants, gymnosperms, ferns, and mosses for related concepts.