[ad. L. flōrāl-is of or pertaining to Flōra: see FLORA and -AL. In sense 3 it may be regarded as a new formation on L. flōr-, flōs flower. Cf. F. floral in all the senses.]
1. Hist. Pertaining to or in honour of the goddess Flora. Floral shows = L. Floralia.
1647. R. Stapylton, Juvenal, 270. The Floral showes were celebrated in the end of April, in honour of the Goddess of Flowers and gardens.
1718. Prior, Henry & Emma, 768.
| From ev’ry annual Course let One great Day, | |
| To celebrated Sports and Floral Play | |
| Be set aside. |
1727–41. Chambers, Cycl., Florales Ludi, Floral Games.
2. Pertaining to a flora or floras. Floral zone: one of the tracts into which the earth’s surface may be divided with regard to the character of the vegetable life.
1870. Yeats, Nat. Hist. Comm., x. 100. The floral zones are less irregular than the faunal, for while animals are limited in their range by the prevalence of food, or by their special adaptations, their capacity for locomotion gives them a power of widening or modifying their range, not possessed by plants.
3. Of or pertaining to a flower or flowers. Floral diagram: a diagram exhibiting the relative position of the parts in the cross-section of a flower. Floral envelope (see ENVELOPE sb. 3). Floral leaf (see quot 1753).
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., s.v. Leaf, Floral Leaf expresses one found near the flower, and which never appears but with the flower.
1793. Martyn, Lang. Bot., Floral bud.… Containing the flowers.
1829. Loudon, Encycl. Plants, Gloss., 1099. Floral envelopes, the calyx, bracteæ, and corolla, which envelope the inner parts of the flower.
1845. Florist’s Jrnl., 230. Floral Intelligence.
1861. Bentley, Bot. (1870), 133. The leaves which arise from the main stem are called cauline; those from the branches ramal; and those from the base of, or upon the flower-stalks, floral leaves or bracts.
1876. Hooker, Bot. Primer, 62. Although the outermost of the floral whorls, the calyx is sometimes placed at a higher level than the ovary.
1879. Cassell’s Techn. Educ., IV. 95/2. After another floral expedition through Dalecarlia, he [Linnæus] began to lecture at Fahlun.
1882. Vines, Sachs’ Bot., 601. The Floral Diagram is constructed differently according to the purpose it is intended to serve.
Hence Florally adv., in quot., like a flower.
1820. Examiner, No. 631. 317/1. Profound in its depth of chiaroscuro, and florally blooming in its colour.
