An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A large, bright → main belt asteroid. With a diameter of 136 km, it is the innermost of large → asteroids and the largest member of the → Flora family. It revolves around the Sun with an → orbital period of 3.27 years between a → perihelion of 1.858 → astronomical units and an → aphelion of 2.546 AU. Flora was discovered by J. R. Hind on October 18, 1847.

Etymology (EN): The name Flora was proposed by John Herschel, from Flora, the Latin goddess of flowers and gardens, wife of Zephyrus (the personification of the West wind), and mother of Spring.