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

That's why flowering plants rely on either the wind or flower-feeding animals such as bees to transfer male-gamete-containing pollen from one flower to another. —Ben Coxworth, New Atlas, 17 Oct. 2024

This night-blooming flowering plant has bold foliage, bright white flowers, and is most fragrant in the evening hours. —Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens, 30 July 2024

Vascular plants are a large group that include ferns, conifers and flowering plants. —Dino Grandoni, Washington Post, 13 July 2024

Some plants even came to depend on fire to reproduce: Certain pine trees have cones sealed by resin that melts in the heat of a wildfire, releasing seeds into fertile ash; smoke seems to stimulate germination in some plant species; and a few flowering plants burst into bloom only after a blaze. —Ferris Jabr, The Atlantic, 25 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1725, in the meaning defined above

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