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The U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C., launched a new exhibit showcasing state flowers from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. Visitors can participate in a scavenger hunt to view the blooms and learn their histories. The display includes paper replicas and preserved specimens, highlighting native plants and climate impacts.
Science NewsU.S. , opened a new exhibit featuring state flowers, available through October 12, 2026. U.S.
Territories. Experts showcased over a dozen burgeoning blossoms during a tour on the opening day. Oregon’s state flower, the Oregon grape (Berberis aquifolium), is not a true grape. Its roots and stems possess medicinal properties.
“Compounds from the Oregon grape have been used to treat bleeding, arthritis, and tuberculosis,” said Lisa Philander, the garden’s deputy executive director and a medicinal plant expert. Minnesota’s state flower is the pink and white lady’s slipper orchid (Cypripedium reginae), the only state flower that is an orchid. It grows only in areas that experience really cold winters.
Picking the lady’s slipper orchid in the wild is illegal. Maine’s state flower is the white pine cone and tassel, which does not actually have flowers. “Probably the oddest selection of state and territory flowers is the state of Maine, which chose the white pine cone and tassel,” said Susan Pell, the garden’s executive director.
The eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) stands as the tallest conifer in the Northeastern United States. It has been crucial to Maine’s economy since at least the 17th century. Maine adopted the white pine cone and tassel as its floral emblem in 1895, and it appears on Maine license plates.
Different flowers will bloom at varying times throughout the exhibit’s run. –based artist Emily Paluska. Underneath the paper flowers, visitors can flip through books of preserved specimens. “Researchers collected the flora to take a snapshot in time of what plants were occurring in a certain area,” said Susan Pell.
The dried specimens provide rich data to understand the impacts of climate change, development, and invasive species on the range of native plants. Many plants in the United States are moving north as Earth’s average temperature rises, Pell stated. Plants are also moving higher in elevation.
In some states, if plants can’t move any higher, they die out. “We’re also seeing them move higher in elevation,” Pell said. Just before the exhibit opened, Georgia updated its official flower from the Cherokee rose (Rosa laevigata) to the sweetbay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana).
The Cherokee rose is an introduced species from Asia.
Temperatures approached 40 degrees Celsius across much of western and central Europe on June 21, prompting red alerts, rail cancellations, and wildfire evacuations. The heat surge is expected to continue at least until midweek.
Abc NewsConfirmed Ebola cases in eastern Congo reached 1,003 as of late Sunday, including 254 deaths, the Ministry of Health said. The outbreak, declared May 15 in Ituri province, is caused by the Bundibugyo virus strain.
Officials reported 1,003 confirmed cases and 254 deaths from an Ebola outbreak centered in Ituri province. The outbreak, caused by the rare Bundibugyo virus, began May 15 and has spread to neighboring provinces and Uganda.