Flowering Plant, any plant that produces flowers. Flowers contain the reproductive organs of the plant. The most familiar flowers are showy, such as those of roses and tulips. However, many flowering plants, such as grasses, have inconspicuous flowers. Flowering plants include garden flowers; wildflowers; flowering shrubs and trees; and grasses and sedges. The botanical term for a flowering plant is angiosperm. In common usage, many flowering plants, especially garden flowers and wildflowers, are referred to simply as flowers.
From earliest history, flowers have been valued for their beauty of form and color, and for their fragrance. In primitive art, flowers inspired designs used in pottery, baskets, and jewelry. The people of ancient civilizations learned to cultivate flowers. They surrounded their homes and public buildings with gardens filled with flowers.
Flowers have been used for indoor decorations since ancient times. Centuries ago the Chinese and Japanese developed flower arranging to a fine art in which religious and philosophical concepts played a part.
It was in Asia, too, that painting, sculpture, and poetry found an early inspiration in flowers. By the 10th century in China and the 14th century in Japan, foremost artists devoted their skills to portraying such flowers as the lotus, chrysanthemum, and plum blossom. Bowls and vases made of porcelain, or carved in jade, were given flower forms.
Flower painting reached a high point in the Netherlands in the 17th century, and in France in the 19th century.
In many languages flowers have been the subjects of song and story. The wildflowers of England were immortalized by Shakespeare, Shelley, Keats, and Wordsworth. Flowers have been used for centuries as symbols in religion, romance, and politics, and as heraldic devices. The lotus of Egypt had religious and national importance. In Christian symbolism the rose (for martyrdom) and the lily (purity) figured in art and literature. Most nations have a national flower, and all the states of the United States have adopted an official flower.
