The tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) is a very popular tree in the East. The Pennsylvania State College once passed the following resolution endorsing it as Pennsylvania’s state flower and tree:
WHEREAS, The tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) of the Magnolia Family is a native tree of Pennsylvania and found throughout the State as a forest and cultivated shade tree, and
WHEREAS, It is an important timber tree of the State, its wood being used in cabinet work, interior finish, boat building, wooden pumps, wooden bowls, and as a substitute for Cuban Cedar in the manufacture of cigar boxes, and
WHEREAS, Its beautiful tulip-like flowers, buds, leaves and fruits are easily conventionalized for artistic use and suitable for decorative purposes, and
WHEREAS, The leaf resembles a keystone in shape and is, therefore, a fitting emblem and symbol for the Keystone State, the arch in the thirteen original colonies, and
WHEREAS, It is found in full bloom the latter part of May when we wish to commemorate with floral emblems the brave deeds of our soldiers of the Civil, Spanish-American, and Great World Wars, and
WHEREAS, It has been selected by an overwhelming plurality vote of approximately forty societies in the State, that are interested in securing a flower to represent the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,
Therefore, Be it recommended that the flower of the tulip tree and the tree (Liriodendron tulipifera L.) be adopted by choice as the State flower and State tree of Pennsylvania, and that the citizens of the State and the children of the public schools be instructed to call the flower of the tulip tree the State flower and the tree the State tree of Pennsylvania, and that they shall be taught the identifying characters of the tree and flower and the correct methods of planting and caring for the same in private and public grounds and along our highways.
The legislature considered the proposal in 1927. After a lengthy discussion, they decided not to act on it.
By this time, most states had official flowers. Many Pennsylvanians wanted to join the club, but they could never agree on what flower to adopt.
East versus West
By 1933, they had finally narrowed the field to two candidates. Residents of western Pennsylvania supported the wild honeysuckle, also known as the wild azalea and pinkster. Eastern Pennsylvanians rallied behind the mountain laurel.
The House of Representatives voted in favor of the honeysuckle. The next day, they voted for the mountain laurel! The bills moved up to the Senate, which repeated the performance. It looked like the Governor would have to make the final decision.
But he decided to let his wife make the decision. She chose the mountain laurel, which was officially adopted on May 5, 1933.
The mountain laurel was discovered in the middle of the eighteenth century by a Swedish traveler named Peter Kalm. He sent specimens across the Atlantic to the famed botanist Linnaeus. Linnaeus named the shrub Kalmia latifolia in honor of Kalm.
The mountain laurel’s pinkish blooms add color to Pennsylvania in mid-June. It is also the state flower of Connecticut.
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