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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781490731315 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Trafford Publishing |
| Publication date: | 05/09/2014 |
| Pages: | 242 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.55(d) |
Read an Excerpt
Official State Flowers and Trees
Their Unique Stories
By Glynda Joy Nord
Trafford Publishing
Copyright © 2014 Glynda Joy NordAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4907-3131-5
CHAPTER 1
State Flowers & Trees
Alabama
* Camellia—Flower
The Heart of Dixie has taken part in many conflicts. European settlers and Native Americans fought for land possession, and Union and Confederate soldiers fought over states' rights during the "War of the Northern Aggression" as Southerners called it. Alabama residents have also fought amongst themselves over a state floral representative.
Before the camellia reigned as the official state flower of Alabama, the goldenrod held the prestigious honor.
In 1927, during an Alabama legislative session, State Representative T. E. Martin of Montgomery County, introduced a bill to propose the goldenrod as the state flower. According to Marie Bankhead Owen, who was the Director of the Alabama Department of Archives and History, many years earlier school children had selected the goldenrod because: "it blooms everywhere and brightens the fall months with its liberal plume-like flowers." The bill passed on September 6, 1927, the same day the yellowhammer became the state bird and were signed into law by Governor Bibb Graves.
The goldenrod represented Alabama for over thirty years, until the ladies of Butler County decided the goldenrod was nothing more than a weed; therefore undeserving of the role as the state's floral symbol. The ladies thought the camellia to be more exotic and appropriate to uphold the title of state flower, even though camellias were not native to Alabama.
On August 26, 1959, Governor John M. Patterson signed House Bill No. 124 to amend Section 8, Title 55, of the Code of 1940 to read: "The camellia is hereby designated and named as the state flower of Alabama." This repealed the 1927 act that had designated the honor to the goldenrod.
Since there are several varieties of camellia grown within the state, in 1998 Representative Gerald Willis introduced House Bill No. 21 to propose the red camellia to represent Alabama. The bill also recommended that Alabama should adopt a native wildflower such as the oak-leaf hydrangea. Willis' proposal was sent to the Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Committee but no results were administered.
The following year, with the support from the Alabama Wildflower Society, Representative Willis proposed another bill to the House and, in June 1999, the Legislature named the red camellia, Camellia japonica L., as the official state flower of Alabama. And, perhaps to pacify concerned citizens about the camellia's Asian roots, the Legislature also adopted the oak-leaf hydrangea, Hydrangea quercifolia, Bartr., as the official state wildflower on the same day, signed into law by Governor Don Siegelman.
C. japonica is by far the greatest number of camellia species grown with relatively three thousand varieties, cultivars, and hybrids. The name camellia commemorates George Joseph Kamel, a Moravian botanist and Jesuit missionary who travelled to Asia and studied plants native to the Philippines. His association to the flower is hardly remembered, and he may have never seen one anyway, as botanist Carolus Linnaeus named the flower to honor Kamel (the K was changed to a C to accommodate the Latin alphabet).
Some people believe the camellia was named after the Lady of the Camellias, a famous nineteenth century French courtesan, Madeline du Plessis. She was a country girl, and aided by her beauty, went to Paris to make her fortune. She always carried a bouquet of white camellias twenty-five days of the month and red camellias the other five days, probably to signify she was "indisposed." Her early death inspired the novel, Lady of the Camellias by Alexandre Dumas, her real-life lover, who published the book in 1848. Shortly afterward the story about love, social conduct, and purity of one's heart became a successful screen play and opera.
During the late eighteenth century the camellia made its way to America and became a favorite in southern gardens. It is mainly used for borders and formation hedges. Camellia plants can produce flowers up to five inches wide, with a yellow center, and overlapping petals (the bloom duration and color depends on the species). Although the plants grow slowly, they can eventually reach up to twenty feet high. The leaves, a glossy deep green, remain year round.
In general, the camellia symbolizes admiration, perfection, and pity. However the red camellia japonica signifies unpretending excellence. Wonder if Madeline du Plessis knew that!
* Oak-leaf Hydrangea—Wildflower
There are two basic types of hydrangeas: the garden and the greenhouse. The garden variety is hardy and grown outdoors in the ground. The greenhouse genus is typically grown for floral shops and grocery stores for gift giving. They can, however, be planted out of doors but must be watered regularly, sometimes twice a day, until the roots are well established.
Hydrangeas became popular in Europe after a colonial botanist from Pennsylvania had taken the species to England. During a period of time, noble maidens were taught to react with as much indifference as possible when courting, which led to the hydrangea's symbol of heartlessness.
H. quercifolia, Bartr., one of the few hydrangeas native to North America, is found in every section of Alabama. Like the camellia, Carolus Linnaeus also named the hydrangea, which comes from two Greek words: hydor meaning water, and aggeion meaning a vessel, alluding to the cup-shaped fruits. The name quericfolia means oak-leaves with flowers, and Bartr refers to the eighteenth century botanist William Bartram who discovered the plant while on his plant explorations from the Carolinas to the Florida panhandle in the 1770s.
It produces large white blossoms in April and May that spike above green oak-shaped leaves. During the summer these blooms turn a deep rose color and persist into the winter. In autumn the leaves may turn red, orange, yellow and/or burgundy. It is a deciduous shrub with a mature height between six to eight feet. Unlike other hydrangea species, the oak-leaf thrives in sunny locations and grows well in drier soil. It cannot tolerate soggy soil, therefore, providing excellent drainage is very important to the plant's health.
Several varieties of the oak-leaf hydrangea are found within the state such as the snowflake, harmony, snow queen, Alice, sikes dwarf, and peewee. Even though hydrangeas are popular plants to grow, legend claims that when brought indoors (in containers) bad luck will soon follow. Guess I won't be gifting pink hydrangeas for Mother's Day any more.
* Southern Longleaf Pine—Tree
In the Economic Botany of Alabama by Roland Harper, the article claims: "The longleaf pine might have once been the most abundant tree in the United States and was certainly the most abundant in Alabama. Longleaf has more uses than any other tree in North America, if not the whole world."
Hugh Kaul, a Birmingham businessman, civic leader, and president and treasurer of Kaul Lumber Company deserves the credit for Alabama having an official state tree. He also founded the Alabama Forestry Council and officiated as its director and president. In 1938, Kaul won a seat in the Alabama Legislature where he served four terms. Amidst his time in office, he introduced a bill to name the southern pine as the state tree.
In 1949, when the bill passed it failed to name a particular species of pine tree. However, several years later, the bill's sponsor, Hugh Kaul, clarified that he meant the longleaf pine. Once again Representative Gerald Willis intervened and introduced another bill to amend Hugh Kaul's oversight. On May 22, 1997, Governor Forrest Hood James, Jr. signed State House Bill No. 533 specifying the southern longleaf pine, Pinus palustris, Miller, as the official state tree of Alabama.
Pinus, the classical Latin name for the pine tree, was probably used by the ancients on account of the resinous properties of the tree; Palustris, also Latin, means swampy, or of marshes; and Miller, the variety name, refers to Philip Miller who described the species after seeing it in pine forests after a temporary winter flood.
The longleaf pine primarily grows in the lower two-thirds of the state. Prior to the logging industry, this straight pine dominated the tree species in the south. The tall, heavy, hard and durable wood is often used for utility poles, flooring, pulpwood, and other lumber projects. The uniqueness of the longleaf pine is found in the needles ranging from ten to fifteen inches long and bundled in threes. The prickly, dull brown cones grow between five to ten inches in length. For the first five years, the seedlings develop very little above ground, allowing dense grass-like needles to camouflage the top. The stems grow in thickness rather than height, and the taproot develops rapidly. Mature trees can average a height of one hundred twenty feet and a diameter of nearly four feet.
To read more facts and history about pine trees refer to the Arkansas, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, and North Carolina chapters.
ALASKA
* Forget-me-not—Floral Emblem & Flower
Alaska, the nation's largest state, has designated one of the smallest flowers to serve as the state flower and floral emblem—the forget-me-not. By historical account, the forget-me-not was chosen by men to signify that they did not want to be forgotten—especially the prospectors of the Klondike Gold Rush.
In 1907, a group of men formed a lodge limited to men who had arrived in Alaska before January 1, 1900, calling themselves "the Pioneers of Alaska." A year later, the group merged with two other lodges to form the "Grand Igloo." From this organization the forget-me-not started its journey to become the floral emblem of the Alaska Territory, then the state flower.
When the female population increased, the women were also interested in numerous lodges such as the Grand Igloo and formed the Women's Auxiliaries. And they also adopted the forget-me-not as their flower emblem. As territorial status approached, (Alaska was originally organized as the Department of Alaska in 1867, then was successively the District of Alaska from 1884 until it became the Alaska Territory in 1912) it occurred to lodge members that the forget-me-not would make a most appropriate floral emblem.
In April 1912, Congress passed the Second Organic Act authorizing official territorial status upon Alaska to form a government with limited powers; legislators met for the first time in 1913. Four years later, a bill that proposed the forget-me-not as the flower emblem of the Alaska Territory was introduced and supported by a poem written by Ester Birdsall Darling.
Because the forget-me-not is considered a flower of constancy and perseverance, traits that thoroughly characterized Alaska's first brave pioneers, on April 28, 1917, Governor John Franklin Strong signed the bill into law. An additional poem was written in the margins of the bill.
A little flower blossoms forth
On every hill and dale,
The emblem of the Pioneers
Upon the rugged trail ...
In 1927, Benny Benson, a thirteen year-old Native American boy from the village of Chignik, paid tribute to the forget-me-not in his winning flag design, adopted by the Alaska Legislature. He is quoted: "The blue field is for the Alaska sky and the forget-me-not, an Alaskan flower. The North Star is for the future state of Alaska, the most northerly in the Union. The Dipper is for the Great Bear—symbolizing strength." For Benny's prize, he received a $1,000 scholarship and a watch.
In 1959, when Alaska was allowed into the Union, the forget-me-not acquired the title as the state flower and floral emblem to commemorate the Pioneers of Alaska. Forty-five years later, in 2004, The Alaska Statutes designated the wild native forget-me-not, Myosotis alpestris, the official flower and floral emblem of the state of Alaska, signed into law by Governor Frank Murkowski.
The name "forget-me-not" comes from the Old French ne m'oubliez mye, and then translated to German was vergiss mein nicht. Myosotis, the Greek word for mouse's ear, refers to the rounded, blue flower petals, and alpestris refers to the Alps or high mountains were the plant is native.
Alpine forget-me-not is a perennial that grows well throughout Alaska in open, rocky places high in the mountains. The flowers have five blue connected salviform petals about a quarter to a third of an inch wide with a white inner ring and a yellow center. They bloom in midsummer, from late June to late July.
Legends of the Forget-Me-Not
Stories about the forget-me-not sprouted from its name. One folktale claims: A wayward traveler in a lonely peak saw the flower at his feet in which he had never seen before. After he picked it the mountainside opened. Unable to resist, he entered into a cave that was filled with gold and precious gemstones. As he gathered the jewels he dropped the little flower, which softly murmured, "forget-me-not." The traveler, so focused on his new bounty, ignored the flower's plea. The cave's opening began to close and he barely escaped. Unfortunately, the little flower that had revealed the mountainside treasure was forever lost.
Another story relates to medieval times, and its association with faithful love, undying memory, and loving remembrance. As a handsome knight was walking with a lovely maiden along a riverbank, he stopped to pick her a handful of wildflowers; however he stumbled and fell into the river. Before his heavy armor caused him to sink, he tossed the bouquet to her while calling, "forget-me-not!" Thus the grieving maiden named the flowers in his memory. She never forgot him, and wore the flowers in her hair until her own death.
Christian folklore portrays God walking through the Garden of Eden after the Creation. When God noticed a small blue flower, He asked the flower its name. The flower, dismayed with shyness, whispered, "I have forgotten, Lord." God answered, "Forgot-Me-Not. Thus I will not forget thee."
Forget-Me-Not
by
Ester Birdsall Darling
So in thinking for an emblem
For this Empire of the North
We will choose the azure flower
That the golden days bring forth ...
* Sitka Spruce—Tree
When Alaska joined the Union the state already had an official seal, flag, floral emblem, bird, and a song, all adopted by the Territorial Legislature. After statehood two other symbols were brought before the Alaska State Legislature: a state fish, the Chinook salmon, and a state tree, the Sitka spruce, both of major importance to the state's economy.
The Sitka, also known as coast spruce, tideland spruce, and yellow spruce, is the largest species all spruce trees. In 1792, Archibald Menzies, a Scottish surgeon, botanist, and naturalist, stumbled upon the species in the area known today as Washington state. Thirty-nine years later, the tree was introduced to Europe by David Douglas, a fellow Scotsmen and botanist. The trees, located in and near British Columbia, where the largest trees are grown, were ideal for British forestry—in which had started to decline centuries beforehand.
Trees can tower an average height between one hundred twenty to one hundred eighty feet with a trunk expansion of three to five feet in diameter. Occasionally, they can extend three hundred feet tall. Located along the coastal fog belt between southern Alaska and northern California, the Sitka spruce extends several miles from the coast and river valleys. As the primary tree of the rainforest valleys, old forests are dominated by the Sitka spruce due to its long life span (up to six hundred years) and its ability to prosper in spite of disturbance. It can quickly take over a space left by a dead tree or by a moderate fire that does not destroy the canopy. Although the forest canopy shades the ground, saplings adapt well. Unfortunately, seedlings have a difficult time germinating on the forest floor due to mosses and other plants. If a seed falls on a downed log, also known as nurse log, then it has an open area to sprout and develop.
Sitka spruce provides high-grade lumber. In the past, the wood was used for building ship masts and airplanes. During World War II, the Mosquito, a British multi-role combat aircraft, built in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada, was constructed from the wood of the Sitka spruce and, therefore, nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder." Today the trees are farmed extensively in Alaska and British Columbia. Their rapid growth ability contributes to their commercial value providing one of the largest timber yields available.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Official State Flowers and Trees by Glynda Joy Nord. Copyright © 2014 Glynda Joy Nord. Excerpted by permission of Trafford Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Foreword, xi,Introduction, xiii,
National Flower & Tree, 1,
State Flowers & Trees,
Alabama, 9,
Alaska, 14,
Arizona, 19,
Arkansas, 24,
California, 28,
Colorado, 34,
Connecticut, 38,
Delaware, 41,
Florida, 46,
Georgia, 50,
Hawaii, 54,
Idaho, 58,
Illinois, 61,
Indiana, 64,
Iowa, 68,
Kansas, 71,
Kentucky, 76,
Louisiana, 81,
Maine, 85,
Maryland, 89,
Massachusetts, 92,
Michigan, 95,
Minnesota, 99,
Mississippi, 102,
Missouri, 104,
Montana, 108,
Nebraska, 112,
Nevada, 115,
New Hampshire, 119,
New Jersey, 123,
New Mexico, 127,
New York, 131,
North Carolina, 134,
North Dakota, 136,
Ohio, 138,
Oklahoma, 142,
Oregon, 148,
Pennsylvania, 152,
Rhode Island, 155,
South Carolina, 157,
South Dakota, 161,
Tennessee, 165,
Texas, 172,
Utah, 177,
Vermont, 180,
Virginia, 183,
Washington, 185,
West Virginia, 189,
Wisconsin, 191,
Wyoming, 194,
Territorial Flowers & Trees,
Guam, 199,
Northern Mariana Islands, 201,
Puerto Rico, 203,
Virgin Islands, 205,
Glossary, 207,
References, 211,
Acknowledgements, 225,
Biographies, 227,