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

Some flowering plants, such as hollyhock (Alcea), foxglove (Digitalis), and cardinal flower (Lobelia), are usually allowed to form seed heads so the plants can reseed in the garden for new spring growth. —Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 5 Sep. 2025

Its site, featuring a building designed by Pritzker Prize winning design practice Herzog & de Meuron and a landscape of native and flowering plants, will present a rotating selection of masterworks curated by the Calder Foundation. —Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025

Those supplements were: St. John’s Wort St. John’s wort is an invasive, wild, flowering plant. —Tom Gavin, EverydayHealth.com, 28 July 2025

Most of the flowering plants in our gardens produce pollen that never takes flight and does not contribute to seasonal allergies. —Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 July 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