TN state flower

Ellen Gallagher asked if there is some story behind my comment that the iris
IS the state flower of TN.  People often ask me which iris is the state
flower, and I have to answer that I really don't know.  Here in middle
Tennessee we have a native iris, the little I. cristata, which has a
delicate but ephemeral beauty.  It grows in wooded areas.
IMHO, it is a bit ironic that the iris is the state flower, considering the
fact that our "erratic" climate, as Linda Mann put it, makes the good iris
bloom season something of a rarity, at least for bearded iris.
Now if the KUDZU flower were the state flower, that would be a logical, if
less poetic, choice.
Julie Allen, Sparta, TN
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