Floral formula is a means to represent the structure of a flower using numbers, letters and various symbols, presenting substantial information about the flower in a compact form. It can represent particular species, or can be generalized to characterize higher taxa, usually giving ranges of organ numbers. Floral formulae are one of the two ways of describing flower structure developed during the 19th century, the other being floral diagrams. The format of floral formulae differs between authors, yet they tend to convey the same information.