What Is The State Flower of North Carolina?
North Carolina is the ninth most populous state in the United States. The state is in the southeastern parts of the country, and it is surrounded by Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, the Atlantic Ocean and South Carolina. North Carolina’s capital city Raleigh is home to the biggest research park in the country known as the Research Triangle Park. Just like all the other American states, North Carolina has numerous state symbols, and this includes their state wildflower and state flower.
What Is North Carolina’s State Flower?
The state flower of North Carolina is the Dogwood tree blossom. The flowering dogwood, also known as Cornus florida is a flowering plant which belongs to the family Cornaceae. It is native to northern Mexico and eastern parts of North America. The General Assembly of North Carolina made it their official state flower in 1941. The flowering dogwood is the most common tree in the state which is found in all parts of North Carolina from the coast to the top of the mountains. It is one of the most famous ornamental trees in the state that is appreciated for its beauty and the role it plays as background trees in landscaping. It produces some showy flowers during spring.
It is a small deciduous tree which can attain a maximum height of about 33 ft and a trunk diameter of approximately 1ft. The Cornus florida has some simple and ovate leaves. Its leaves are over 1.6 inches wide and about 2.4 inches long. These leaves turn red-brown during fall. The tree produces about twenty small and inconspicuous flowers which have four yellowish-green bracts. The flower’s head is surrounded by four huge white, red or pink petals. The tree flowers in early May and late April. The tree’s fruits are a cluster of up to ten drupes which ripen during the late summer to bright yellow or red blush. The fruit is a crucial food source for numerous bird species which help propagate its seeds.
What Is The State Wildflower Of North Carolina?
The General assembly of North Carolina designated the Lilium michauxii commonly known as Carolina Lily as their official state wildflower in 2003. The bill was sponsored by Rex Baker who was the representative of Stokes County. Rex and his wife developed an affinity for the flower after they rescued them from being bulldozed and transplanted them to their home. He spent two years trying to pass the wildflower bill. The bill passed unanimously in the Senate and with 111 to 7 votes in the House of Representatives.
The Carolina lily is indigenous to eastern Texas, Florida Panhandle and Virginia. The plant’s stem can attain a maximum height of about 4ft with about six flowers. Carolina lily’s flower is brilliant orange-red with some brown spots. The flower blossoms in July and August. The petals of the Carolina lily are usually bent backwards and spotted. Even though the Carolina lily thrives in August and July, it can blossom as late as October. The Carolina lily is a slow-growing rare plant which doesn’t produce numerous seeds.
