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Flowers & Floral Emblems

The term floral emblem, which refers to flowers specifically, is primarily used in Australia and Canada. In the United States, the term state flower is more often used.

New Hampshire Symbols

New Hampshire State Flower

Purple Lilac

(Syringa vulgaris)

Adopted in 1919.

The purple lilac, Syringa vulgaris, is the state flower of New Hampshire.

New Hampshire historian Leon Anderson writes in To This Day that the purple lilac was first imported from England and planted at the Portsmouth home of Governor Benning Wentworth in 1750. It was adopted as our state's flower in 1919.

That year bills and amendments were introduced promoting the apple blossom, purple aster, wood lily, Mayflower, goldenrod, wild pasture rose, evening primrose and buttercup as the state flower. A long and lively debate followed regarding the relative merits of each flower. The purple lilac was ultimately chosen, according to Anderson in New Hampshire's Flower -- Tree -- Bird because it "is symbolic of that hardy character of the men and women of the Granite State."

New Hampshire Revised Statute Annotated (RSA) 3:5
Anderson, Leon. Flower -- Tree -- Bird
State Wildflower. The pink lady's slipper, Cypripedium aca

Lilac is a common flowering shrub that grows best in a sunny location. The plant grows in shade, but flowering is poor and powdery mildew is likely to be severe. Common lilac grows 20 feet tall and spreads 15 feet. The growth rate is rapid and the plant produces many suckers. The flowers are in shades of purple, white or pink. Some colors listed in catalogs refer to the unopened flower buds. Flower bud color may be different from the flower color. There are few actual color variations.

Leaf: Opposite, simple, broadly ovate, 2 to 4 inches long, 1 1/2 to 3 inches, heart shaped, entire, dark green to bluish-green above, lighter below.
Flower: Light purple, pink or even white (cultivar dependent), fragrant, flowers in terminal clusters, 4 to 7 inches long, appearing in May.
Fruit: Dry, brown, capsules, 1/2 inch long.
Twig: Stout, angled (almost 4 sided) or ridged, lustrous brown, glabrous, numerous raised lenticels, leaf scars raised, crescent-shaped, buds large, green but turning purple in the winter.
Bark: Gray to gray-brown, smooth but becoming finely shreddy when large.
Form: A multi-stemmed, suckering, tall shrub reaching up to 15 feet in height.

Taxonomic Hierarchy
Kingdom	Plantae -- Plants
Subkingdom	Tracheobionta -- Vascular plants
Superdivision	Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division	Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class	Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass	Asteridae –
Order	Scrophulariales –
Family	Oleaceae – Olive family
Genus	Syringa L. – lilac
Species	Syringa vulgaris L. – common lilac

State Flowers

Find images and a brief history of the flowers representing, usually by legislative action, the state symbols of each of the fifty states. Many of the state flowers are actually trees -- some states have chosen the same species as state tree and as state flower.

flow·er (flour)
n.
1.
a. It is the reproductive structure of many seed-bearing plants, typically having either specialized male or female organs or both male and female organs, like stamens and a pistil, enclosed in an outer envelope of petals and sepals. b. Such a structure having showy or colorful parts; a blossom.
2. A plant that is cultivated or cherished for its blossoms. 3. The condition or a time of having developed flowers: The violets were in full flower. 4. Something, such as an decoration or a figure of speech that resembles a flower in shape, fineness, or attractiveness.