Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurringnative plants. 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.
Plants are grouped into floras based on region, period, special environment, or climate. Regions can be distinct habitats like mountain vs. flatland. Floras can mean plantlife of a historic era as in fossil flora. Lastly, floras may be subdivided by special environments:
Native flora. The native and indigenous flora of an area.
Agricultural and horticultural flora. The plants that are deliberately grown by humans.
Weed flora. Traditionally this classification was applied to plants regarded as undesirable, and studied in efforts to control or eradicate them. Today the designation is less often used as a classification of plant life, since it includes three different types of plants: weedy species, invasive species, and native and introduced non-weedy species that are agriculturally undesirable. Many native plants previously considered weeds have been shown to be beneficial or even necessary to various ecosystems.
Documentation of floras
The flora of a particular area or time period can be documented in a publication also known as a "flora". Floras may require specialist botanical knowledge to use with any effectiveness. Traditionally they are books, but some are now published on CD-ROM or websites. Simon Paulli's Flora Danica of 1648 is probably the first book titled "Flora" to refer to the plant world of a certain region. It mainly describes medicinal plants growing in Denmark. The Flora Sinensis by the Polish JesuitMichał Boym is another early example of a book titled "Flora". However, despite its title it covered not only plants, but also some animals of the region, that is China and India. A published 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 best applies to the plant.
