(Redirected from State tree)In a number of countries, plants have been chosen as symbols to represent specific geographic areas. Some countries have a country-wide 'floral emblem'; others in addition have symbols representing subdivisions. Different processes have been used to adopt these symbols - some are conferred by government bodies, whereas others are the result of informal public polls. 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.
Europe
United Kingdom
Each of the constituent countries of the
United Kingdom has a traditional national floral symbol. In
England this is the
rose, in
Scotland this is the
thistle, and in
Wales this is the
Leek.
A 'county flower' is a
flowering plant chosen to symbolise a
county. They exist primarily in the
United Kingdom, but some counties in other countries also have them.
County flowers in the United Kingdom
One or two county flowers have a long history in
England - the
Red rose of Lancashire dates from the
Middle Ages, for instance. However, the county flower concept was only extended to cover the whole United Kingdom in 2002, as a
promotional tool by a charity. In that year, the plant conservation charity
Plantlife ran a competition to choose county flowers for all counties, to celebrate the
Golden Jubilee of
Queen Elizabeth II.
Plantlife's scheme is loosely based on Britain's
traditional counties, and so some current
local government areas are not represented by a flower, and some of the counties included no longer exist as administrative areas. Flowers were also chosen for thirteen major cities:
Belfast,
Birmingham,
Bristol,
Cardiff,
Edinburgh,
Glasgow,
Leeds,
Liverpool,
London,
Manchester,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
Nottingham and
Sheffield.
The Isles of Scilly was also treated as a county (distinct from Cornwall) for the purpose of the scheme. The
Isle of Man was included, but not the
Channel Islands.
A total of 94 flowers was chosen in the competition. 85 of the 109 counties have a unique county flower, but several species were chosen by more than one county.
Foxglove ''Digitalis purpurea'' was chosen for four counties -
Argyll, Birmingham,
Leicestershire and
Monmouthshire) - more than any other species. The following species were chosen for three counties each:
★
Bog Rosemary ''Andromeda polifolia'' (
Cardiganshire,
Kirkcudbright and
Tyrone)
★
Cowslip ''Primula veris'' (
Northamptonshire,
Surrey and
Worcestershire)
★
Harebell ''Campanula rotundifolia'' (
Antrim,
Dumfries and
Yorkshire)
★
Thrift ''Armeria maritima'' (
Bute,
Pembrokeshire and the Isles of Scilly)
And the following species were chosen for two counties:
★
Grass-of-parnassus ''Parnassia palustris'' (
Cumberland and
Sutherland)
★
Pasqueflower ''Pulsatilla vulgaris'' (
Cambridgeshire and
Hertfordshire)
★
Common Poppy ''Papaver rhoeas'' (
Essex and
Norfolk)
In addition,
Sticky Catchfly ''Lychnis viscaria'' was chosen for both Edinburgh and
Midlothian, the county containing Edinburgh.
For most counties,
native species were chosen, but for a small number of counties,
non-natives were chosen, mainly
archaeophytes.
Ireland
The
shamrock is widely used as a symbol for
Ireland.
County flowers in Ireland
★
Bog-rosemary is the county flower of
County Offaly [1]
Norway
★
Lily-of-the-valley was chosen as the county flower of
Østfold [2]
★
Globe flower is the county flower of
Troms [3]
Sweden
★
Black vanilla orchid, ''Nigritella nigra'', is the county flower of
Jämtland [4]
★
Mistletoe is the county flower of
Västmanland [5]
Asia
Bangladesh
The floral emblem are the
National symbols of the country constituting the nation such the
Shapla (
National flower),
Banyan (National tree),
Jackfruit (National fruit) See also:
National Emblem of Bangladesh.
China
The floral emblem is usually the
peony,
plum blossom, and
chrysanthemum also the ''National fruit'' of
PRC is the
Kiwifruit.
Japan
Imperial seal of Japan
The national flower of
Japan is 'Japanese Flowering Cherry'. Chrysanthemum is symbol of Japanese Imperial family.
Laos
Laos national flower is the
Champa.
Malaysia
The national flower for
Malaysia is
Hibiscus.
The state flower for the
state of
Sarawak in eastern
Malaysia is Phalanopsis bellina.
New Zealand
The "Silver Fern" is acknowledged as a national emblem in New Zealand. Other plant emblems are: Koru (a curled fern symbol) and Kowhai (a native tree with yellow cascading flowers).
Pakistan
Jasmin in full Blossom
The 'floral emblem' are the
National symbols of the
country constituting the
nation-state such as the
Jasmine ''(
National flower)'' and
Rhododendron in the
Regional state of
Jammu and Kashmir ''(
disputed territory),''
Deodar (National tree),
Mango (National fruit) ''Also See:
National Emblem of Pakistan.''
Singapore
The national flower for Singapore is
Vanda Miss Joaquim.
Taiwan
Taiwan has selected county flowers for all of its counties
[6]. A partial list:
★
Magnolia is the county flower of
Chiayi County [7]
★ The
Common Bombax Flower is the county flower of
Taichung County [8]
★ The
Gaillardia is the county flower of
Penghu County [9]
Taiwan has also selected county trees.
The Americas
Bolivia
Bolivian national flowers are
cantuta (''Catua buxifolia'') and
patujú (''Heliconia rostrata'')
Canada
The
maple is widely used as a symbol for
Canada.
Many Canadian flags and coat of arms have floral emblems on them. The
Flag of Montreal has four floral emblems. On the right side of the
Flag of Saskatchewan overlapping both green and gold halves is the western red lily, the provincial floral emblem. The
Coat of Arms of Port Coquitlam has the City's floral emblem, the azalea displayed on a collar. The
Coat of Arms of Prince Edward Island displays
Lady's Slippers, the floral emblem of the Island. The
Coat of Arms of Nova Scotia has the
trailing arbutus or mayflower, the floral emblem of Nova Scotia, added when the arms were reassumed in 1929.
Colombia
The
Orchid is the Colombian national flower.
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic's national flower is the Caoba (Mahogany) tree's flower.
Nicaragua
Nicaragua's national flower is the
Sancuanjoche ''(Plumeria rubra var alba)'', and was declared the country's national flower on August 17th, 1971. Its name is derived from
Nicarao, the name of the
Nahuatl-speaking tribe which inhabited
Nicaragua; "xacuan"(sacuan) means beautiful yellow petals and "xochilt"(joche) means flower. The flower can be found in the
Masaya Volcano National Park among other places.
Nicaragua and
Laos share the same national flower under different local names. In Laos it is named "Champa".
Cantutas in the garden of
Koricancha (Temple of the Sun, today's Convento Santo Domingo),
Cusco,
Peru.
Peru
The national flower of Peru is the
Cantuta (often spelled 'Kantuta' or 'Qantuta', from
Quechua ''qantu'')(''cantua buxifolia''). It can be found at the high valleys of the
Andean territory, in
Peru and
Bolivia.
United States
In 1986 President
Ronald Reagan signed legislation to make the
rose the floral emblem of the United States.
[10] In the
United States, 'state flowers' and 'state trees' have been adopted as symbols by state legislatures.
Australia
In
Australia, floral emblems have been adopted by each state and territory. See
List of Australian floral emblems for a complete list.
External links
★
Plantlife County flowers page
★
BBC coverage of the county flowers competition
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