The June 15th Tennessee Trivia Question was indeed a toughie.
What is Tennessee's state flower?
Did you say the iris? If so, you were correct but only partly so.
According to the Tennessee Blue Book, Tennessee has two state flowers!
The state wildflower is the passion flower. The cultivated flower is the iris.
The history behind this is interesting. In 1919, the General Assembly provided that a state flower would be chosen by the school children of Tennessee. The children "voted" and the passion flower was selected.
Later, in 1933, the General Assembly adopted a Joint Resolution that designated the iris as the "State Flower of Tennessee." When legislators adopted the iris in 1933, they forgot to formally rescind the earlier selection of the passion flower.
Forty years later, the General Assembly decided to straighten everything out.
In 1973 with supreme political correctness, the Tennessee General Assembly in 1973 designated the passion flower as the state's official wildflower and the iris as the state's official cultivated flower.
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