Illinois State Flower, Native Violet, from NETSTATE.COM (original) (raw)

Native Violet Violacea Adopted:1908
ALTTAG
Common Blue Violet: (Viola sororia)

Adoption of the Illinois Native State Flower

The 1893 World Exposition, held in Chicago, is credited with sparking a nationwide interest in the adoption of flowers to represent a state. That year, the purple iris was one of the suggestions fielded to represent Illinois. It was never officially adopted however.

In 1907, at the suggestion of Mrs. James C. Fessler of Rochelle, who had launched a statewide campaign to adopt a state flower, the choice of a state flower and a state tree was put to a vote of Illinois schoolchildren. The wild rose gave the violet a run for its money, but the goldenrod never had a chance. State officials watched closely as over 33,500 votes were cast for three flowers; the goldenrod, the wild rose and the violet. The violet won the contest by accumulating almost 4,000 more votes than the second-place wild rose.

As a result of the contest, Senator Andrew J. Jackson of Rockford sponsored a bill in the Illinois Legislature to make the violet the official flower of the state. On January 21, 1908 the native violet was approved as the official state flower of the State of Illinois.

The legislation did not specify a specific variety of violet but, according to the Illinois State Museum, the dooryard or common violet (Viola sororia) is the most common species in the state and was probably the intended "native violet" of Senator Jackson's Bill. In State Names, Flags, Seals, Songs, Birds, Flowers and Other Symbols (1939), Shankle suggested

"The State legislature on February 21, 1903, declared the native violet (probably the wood violet, or the Bird-foot violet, Viola dedate) to be the State flower of Illinois. This law went into effect on July 1, 1908."

The Illinois Compiled Statutes

The following information is excerpted from the Illinois Compiled Statutes, Government, Chapter 5, State Designations Act, Section 40.

GOVERNMENT
CHAPTER 5. GENERAL PROVISIONS.
(5 ILCS 460/) State Designations Act.
(5 ILCS 460/40) (from Ch. 1, par. 2901-40)

Sec. 40. State tree and flower. The white oak tree is designated the native State tree of the State of Illinois; and the native violet is designated the native State flower of the State of Illinois.

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Additional Information

ALTTAG
Common Blue Violet: (Viola sororia)

Viola sororia (Violet): Plant Encyclopedia from MyGardenGuide.

Plant Profile for Viola sororia (Common Blue Violet): USDA, NRCS. 2004. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.

State Flower List: List of all of the state flowers.

State Birds & Flowers 1000-pc Puzzle: Created at the request of The National Wildlife Federation this design is a beautiful and informative puzzle featuring every state bird perched on the appropriate state flower.

State Birds and Flowers Coloring Book by Annika Bernhard - 51 accurately detailed, copyright-free renderings include national bird (eagle) and flower (rose) plus 50 state birds and flowers.

U. S. State Flowers in Cross Stitch by Gerda Bengtsson - Botanically correct cross stitch designs of state flowers of the 50 States.

Quilting Flowers of the States by Sue Harvey - A lovely 12-inch flower block for each of the 50 states. Techniques used are piecing, appliqu?, paper-piecing and three-dimensional techniques.

Plants, Seeds & Flowers: Bulbs, seeds, plants, fertilizer, plant containers and more.

Gardening Tools: Pruners, rakes, shovels, hoes, trowels, cultivators and tillers, greenhouses, yard carts and more.

State Names, Seals, Flags, and Symbols: A Historical Guide, Third Edition - Benjamin F. Shearer and Barbara S. Shearer, Greenwood Press, 2002

State Names, Flags, Seals, Songs, Birds, Flowers and Other Symbols: A Study based on historical documents giving the origin and significance of the state names, nicknames, mottoes, seals, flowers, birds, songs, and descriptive comments on the capitol buildings and on some of the leading state histories, Revised Edition - George Earlie Shankle, Ph.D., The H.W. Wilson Company, 1938 (Reprint Services Corp. 1971)

Source: The Illinios General Assembly, (http://www.ilga.gov/), June 18, 2005
Source: Illinois State Museum, (http://www.museum.state.il.us), June 18, 2005
Source: State Names, Seals, Flags, and Symbols: A Historical Guide, Third Edition - Benjamin F. Shearer and Barbara S. Shearer, Greenwood Press, 2002
Source: State Names, Flags, Seals, Songs, Birds, Flowers and Other Symbols: Revised Edition (Reprint)- George Earlie Shankle, Ph.D., The H.W. Wilson Company, 1938