flowering plant

noun

plural flowering plants

: any of a class (Angiospermae) of vascular plants that have male and female reproductive structures enclosed in a flower, that have seeds which arise from ovules contained in the ovaries, and that produce dry or fleshy fruits after double fertilization : angiosperm

The butterflies feed off the nectar of any flowering plant and lay their eggs on what's called a host plant.

—Michael Fitzpatrick

About 75% of all flowering plants rely on animal pollinators and over 200,000 species of animals act as pollinators.

—Steve Smith

Duckweed, the smallest flowering plant, measures less than 5 millimeters across.

—Timothy Cooney et al.

Examples of flowering plant in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Among the flowering plants, trees and waterfalls are 50 to 60 butterfly species from around the world plus more than 20 exotic bird species. —Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 11 Mar. 2025

Botanists have been trekking to the Valley of Flowers for decades, studying its myriad buds—around 500 species of flowering plants—and long before that, yogis and poets made the epic pilgrimage. —Ashlea Halpern, AFAR Media, 6 Mar. 2025

Spring is a great time to plant a variety of flowering plants in the garden—and not just annual bedding plants. —Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 27 Feb. 2025

Limes are a citrus fruit belonging to the Rutaceae family of flowering plants. —Daryl Austin, USA TODAY, 20 Feb. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1725, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for flowering plant

• ant
• aunt
• cant
• chant
• gant
• lant
• pant
• quant
• rant
• sant
• scant
• slant

Kids Definition

flowering plant

noun

: any of a major group of higher plants that produce flowers, fruits, and seeds with the seeds in a closed ovary

called also angiosperm

compare seed plant