Georgia Might Be Getting a New State Flower This Year

Back in 1916, when Georgia legislators designated a state flower, their intentions were good. The Cherokee rose had come to be associated with the Cherokee people, who, on their forced march westward from Georgia in 1838, allegedly saw it blooming along the Trail of Tears. The problem is-the flower wasn’t, as the legislators believed, actually native to Georgia. Now, the Georgia Native Plant Society is spearheading an effort to replace it with an actual native, the sweetbay magnolia, during this year’s legislative session, which begins on January 13.

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