FLORA  , in

Roman mythology, goddess of spring-time and flowers, later identified with the Greek Chioris . Her festival at Rome, the Floralia, instituted 238 B.C. by order of the Sibylline books and at first held irregularly, became annual after 173 . It lasted six days (April 28–May 3), the first day being the anniversary of the foundation of her temple . It included theatrical performances and animal hunts in the circus, and vegetables were distributed to the people . The proceedings were characterized by excessive merriment and licentiousness . According to the legend, her worship was instituted by Titus Tatius, and her priest, the flamen Floralis, by Numa . In art Flora was represented as a beautiful maiden, bedecked with flowers (Ovid, Fasti, v . 183 ff.; Tacitus, Annals, ii . 49) . The term " flora is used in botany collectively for the plant-growth of a district; similarly " fauna is used collectively for the animals .