In medieval Latin, a florilegium (plural florilegia) was a compilation of excerpts or sententia from other writings and is an offshoot of the commonplacing tradition.
Later the word was used for various forms of compilation to do with flowers or plants, such as Banks' Florilegium, or just for published collections of various sorts.
After the medieval period, the term was extended to apply to any miscellany or compilation of literary or scientific character.
The term florilegia also applied literally to a treatise on flowers or medieval books that are dedicated to ornamental rather than the medicinal or widely useful plants covered by herbals.
As printing techniques advanced, and new plants came to Europe from Ottoman Turkey in the 16th century, wealthy individuals and botanic gardens commissioned artists to record the beauty of these exotics in Florilegia.