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Colorado State Flower
Adoption of the Colorado State FlowerColorado's state flower, the white and lavender columbine (Aquilegia caerulea) is commonly known as the Rocky Mountain columbine. Its journey to become the Colorado state flower began near the end of the 19th century in 1891 when Colorado school children voted the Rocky Mountain columbine their favorite flower, overwhelmingly, over the second-place cactus. Of the 22,316 votes cast, 14,472 went to the Rocky Mountain Columbine. Nine years later, in 1899, a Colorado women's club, in Cripple Creek, discovered that the Rocky Mountain columbine had never been officially adopted as the state flower. They went right to work. Senate Bill 261, declaring the white and lavender columbine the state flower, was approved by the Colorado Legislature on April 4, 1899 Don't be confused by names. The act names the white and lavender columbine as the state flower without reference to a scientific name. In later legislation declaring it the duty of the citizens of the state to protect the state flower, the white and lavender columbine is referred to as Aquilegia caerulea. In fact, Aquilegia caerulea is more commonly called Colorado blue columbine or simply Colorado columbine rather than white and lavender columbine. Protective of their beautiful Rocky Mountain columbine, in 1925 the Twenty-fifth Session of the Colorado General Assembly approved a bill that made it the responsibility of all Coloradans to protect the state flower, established rules about picking and digging the flower and defined penalties for violations of the law. The law is detailed below. The Colorado Revised StatutesThe following information is excerpted from the Colorado Revised Statutes, Title 1, Part 9, Sections 24-80-905 through 24-80-908. TITLE 1. GOVERNMENT - STATE: STATE HISTORY, ARCHIVES, AND EMBLEMS.
24-80-906. Duty to protect.
24-80-907. Limitation on picking state flower.
24-80-908. Violation a misdemeanor - penalty.
Additional Information
Aquilegia caerulea (White and Lavender Columbine): Plant Encyclopedia from MyGardenGuide. Guide to Growing Columbines in the Garden: from TheGardenHelper.com. Plant Profile for Aquilegia coerulea (Colorado blue columbine): USDA, NRCS. 2004. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov). National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA. Columbine posters and prints. State Flower List: List of all of the state flowers. State Birds & Flowers 1000-pc Puzzle: Created at the request of The National Wildlife Federation this design is a beautiful and informative puzzle featuring every state bird perched on the appropriate state flower. State Birds and Flowers Coloring Book U. S. State Flowers in Cross Stitch Quilting Flowers of the States Plants, Seeds & Flowers Gardening Tools State Names, Seals, Flags, and Symbols: A Historical Guide, Third Edition - Benjamin F. Shearer and Barbara S. Shearer, Greenwood Press, 2002 State Names, Flags, Seals, Songs, Birds, Flowers and Other Symbols: A Study based on historical documents giving the origin and significance of the state names, nicknames, mottoes, seals, flowers, birds, songs, and descriptive comments on the capitol buildings and on some of the leading state histories, Revised Edition - George Earlie Shankle, Ph.D., The H.W. Wilson Company, 1938 (Reprint Services Corp. 1971) Source: Colorado Revised Statutes, (http://198.187.128.12/colorado/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=fs-main.htm&2.0), June 4, 2005
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by Annika Bernhard - 51 accurately detailed, copyright-free renderings include national bird (eagle) and flower (rose) plus 50 state birds and flowers.