Apparatus for transferring singled flowers or plants from a collective container to a sorting machine, comprising means for serially picking up flowers kept closely together from the collective container, spreading means for separating the picked up flowers, means for transferring the separated flowers to a series of transfer conveyors substantially running in the same direction, which transfer conveyors are positioned for simultaneously transferring the series of flowers to a sorting conveyor, as well as comprising means for transferring the flowers from the respective conveyors to the sorting conveyor.