In 1900, Mississippi school children chose the magnolia to serve as state flower. However, legislators never made their choice official.
In 1935, Mississippi’s Director of Forestry started a state tree movement, again allowing school children to vote. The magnolia won by a landslide and was adopted on April 1, 1938.
On February 26, 1952, the magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) was finally officially adopted as Mississippi’s state flower. Just one legislator voted against it.
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism - 
