On This Day In Alabama History: Goldenrod Designated As State Flower

By Alabama NewsCenter Staff

Sept. 6, 1927

Woe the unfortunate goldenrod. Not only has this lovely native bloom, with its glorious golden spires, been falsely accused of being the source of seasonal hay fever (blame the true culprit: ragweed), it also has suffered the indignity of losing its place as the official state flower. On Sept. 6, 1927, the Legislature bestowed the title upon the goldenrod, at the same time naming the Yellowhammer the official state bird. But in 1959, a bevy of women from Butler County succeeded in getting the goldenrod dethroned. In their view, the camellia – a native of Japan – was much preferred to the goldenrod, which they categorized as a common weed. In 1999, some 40 years after the goldenrod’s official humiliation, lawmakers refined their position, choosing a specific camellia, Camellia japonica L., as the state flower and selecting the oak-leaf hydrangea as the state wildflower. The goldenrod continues to await its official redemption.

Read more at the Alabama Department of Archives and History or Alabama NewsCenter.For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.

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