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There is a bill in the legislature to make the fire pink the new Indiana State Flower. http://www.inpaws.org/stateflowerproject.html http://www.state.in.us:80/legislative/bills/2001/IN/IN0057.1.html http://www.state.in.us:80/legislative/bills/2001/IN/IN2053.1.html When I read about this flower, I thought, hmm, I don't believe I've ever found this flower growing anywhere.  I thought a little more, and actually, I do think I've seen it out in the wild.  But it's not very common.  At least I haven't found it so.  In fact I'd have a hard time finding it again.  Well now we want to make it the State Flower.  What do you think will happen when people hear that their new State Flower is the fire pink?  Why, they will want to see this pretty flower.  But where do you go to find it?  There's not much of it growing out in the wild.  In fact, after a brief web search, I find evidence it's considered threatened in Wisconsin and Michigan.  It wouldn't surprise me it it deserved the same consideration in Indiana.  So how are people going to see their new State Flower?  They are going to want to plant it.  They'll plant it in gardens, they'll plant it in front of the State House, they'll plant it along roadsides, they'll plant it in front of schools.  But how do they get the seeds?  There aren't many to be found in Indiana, and collecting them from the wild would be impractical. Much easier just to order them from a seed supplier.  Trouble is, these seeds won't be from fire pinks native to Indiana, they'll be from elsewhere.  And after they start growing in gardens, they'll spread to the countryside.  So if then you find a fire pink growing in the wild, you won't be sure it's from native Indiana stock.  More likely it's from a garden escape that spread to the wild. Here is something Charles Deam wrote in his book, Flora of Indiana.  It is about the plant Coreopsis grandiflora, also known as Big Coreopsis: ...this species is well established along the Lincoln Highway near South Bend and in a few other places in St. Joseph County.  Doubtless it has been introduced from the west.  The seed may have been scattered here along the roadway by some sentimental, trans-continental tourists who acted upon the ill advice published in a magazine a few years ago. It was recommended that tourists should scatter seeds of conspicuous flowers along the roadsides from coast to coast and from the Gulf of Mexico northward.  This produced a storm of indignation from botanists who knew that such a procedure would destroy the natural range of species. So making the fire pink the new State Flower might not be such a good idea after all.  As Barney Fife would say we should nip this idea in the bud.  Nipit nipit nipit nipit nipit nipit nipit nipit nipit. http://www.michbotclub.org/plants_mich/threatened.htm http://wiscinfl.doit.wisc.edu/herbarium/_script_s/detail.asp?SpCode=SILVIR

another bad URL http://wiscinfo.doit.wisc.edu/herbarium/_script_s/detail.asp?SpCode=SILVIR - Ukryj cytowany tekst -- Poka¿ cytowany tekst - http://wiscinfl.doit.wisc.edu/herbarium/_script_s/detail.asp?SpCode=SILVIR

We should choose a flower that everyone sees all over the state.  A flower, if you see it, makes you think, that reminds me of Indiana.  Seems like a lot of the flowers that fit are actually trees.  The redbud would be the best. There's nothing in the Constitution that says the State Flower can't be a tree.  Our State Tree, the tulip tree, has a good flower which deserves more recognition.  Most people never bother to notice them when they bloom around May, the green color of the flower makes it inobtrusive.  If you look at it closely, it's really a nice flower.  Reminds you of the month of May in Indiana.  Green and orange in color.  If you compare it with the magnolia flower, you can see they're closely related.  Black locust would be a good flower, but it's a tree too.  Catalpa is also a nice flower that's also a tree.  Look at a catalpa flower closely when it blooms in June and you'll be amazed that you never bothered to look at a catalpa flower before.  There's an old movie where W. C. Fields goes, Ah the catalpas are lovely this time of year.  There might be a problem choosing the right species, as I think there's a native catalpa and a very closely related catalpa that people have planted and has spread to the wild. I really don't expect this idea to go anywhere, but the dandelion deserves consideration, and I'll tell you why.  Our culture is one of environmental degradation, and that needs to change.  Much of the natural character of our land has been destroyed or seriously damaged.  Yet our land will restore itself over time if only we give it a chance.  Look at the State Seal of Indiana.  What does it show?  A man chopping down a tree, chasing a buffalo away.  We continue this legacy with our actions today.  If we have land, we feel we have to control it.  We mow it.  We prevent the natural character from returning.  Land that once had dense forests and wide prairies gets mowed every weekend.  For no good reason.  Instead of promoting a stable healthy ecosystem, we spend money and muscle to maintain a monoculture of Poa pratensis.  When dandelions pop up, we spread the land with chemical poisons. Give the dandelion the symbolic protection of State Flower status.  It is the first pioneer wildflower that turns the ruined land back to a natural state. Let the dandelion grow.  Do not disturb the land without good reason.  After the dandelion comes the goldenrod, the aster, and the ironweed, then the sumac, then the cedar and the cherry, then the oak and the hickory. So here's what I think we should choose to be the Indiana State Flower.  The elderberry.  It's not really a tree, more of a shrub, with woody stems.  But it grows all over the place, and hardly anyone recognizes what it is.  June brings the familiar sight of six-foot-high elderberry bushes flowering with great big bowl shaped clusters of tiny white flowers.