E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Flora.
Flowers; all the vegetable productions of a country or of a geological period, as the flora of England, the flora of the coal period. Flora was the Roman goddess of flowers.
1
“Another Flora there, of bolder hues,
And richer sweets beyond our garden’s pride.”
Thomson: Summer.
The animals of a period or country are called the Fauna; hence, the phrase the Flora and the Fauna of … . signifies all its vegetable and animal productions.
2
Metropolis of Flora. Aranjuez, in Spain, is so called, from its many beautiful gardens.
