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State Symbols: Official State Birds and Flower Designations of the 50 States

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Bird

Cardinal

(Cardinalis cardinalis)

Adopted on January 25, 1950.

In 1950, the General Assembly chose the northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) as the state bird because of its bright plumage and cheerful song. In eighteenth-century England, the cardinal was called "the Virginia nightingale." The cardinal is part of the finch family.

The northern cardinal is also the state bird for six other states. These are Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, and West Virginia.

The Cardinal is sometimes called the Winter Redbird because it is most noticeable during the winter when it is the only "redbird" present. The Cardinal is one of the most common birds in our gardens, meadows, and woodlands. The male Cardinal is red all over, except for the area of its throat and the region around its bill which is black; it is about the size of a Catbird only with a longer tail. The head is conspicuously crested and the large stout bill is red. The female is much duller in color with the red confined mostly to the crest, wings, and tail. This difference in coloring is common among many birds. Since it is the female that sits on the nest, her coloring must blend more with her natural surroundings to protect her eggs and young from predators. There are no seasonal changes in her plumage.

The Cardinal is a fine singer, and what is unusual is that the female sings as beautifully as the male. The male generally monopolizes the art of song in the bird world.

The nest of the Cardinal is rather an untidy affair built of weed stems, grass and similar materials in low shrubs, small trees or bunches of briars, generally not over four feet above the ground. The usual number of eggs set is three in the South and four further North. Possibly the Cardinal raises an extra brood down in the South to make up the difference, or possibly the population is more easily maintained here by the more moderate winters compared to the colder North.

The Cardinal is by nature a seed eater, but he does not dislike small fruits and insects.

Taxonomic Hierarchy
Kingdom	Animalia -- animals
Phylum	Chordata -- chordates
Subphylum	Vertebrata -- vertebrates
Class	Aves -- birds
Order	Passeriformes -- perching birds
Family	Fringillidae -- buntings, finches, grosbeaks, old world finches, sparrows
Genus	Cardinalis Bonaparte, 1838 -- cardinals
Species	Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) -- Cardenal rojo, northern cardinal

State Flower

Flower by: Santalady State Flower, a state symbol

American Dogwood

(Cornus florida)

Adopted in March 1918.

In 1918, the state floral emblem commonly known as the American dogwood (Cornus florida) was adopted. It was selected to foster a feeling of pride in our state and to stimulate an interest in the history and traditions of the Commonwealth.

Flower: Flowers are highly modified leaves that perform reproductive functions for plants that bear them. A flower petal is merely a special leaf that typically through brightly colored pigment may attract a pollinator. The actual reproductive work of the flower is conducted by the stamens (which bear pollen) and the pistil (which receives the pollen and allows it to contact the flower ovary, where a fruit is produced).

The small flower clusters on the Flowering Dogwood are surrounded by 4 large, showy bracts that are often mistaken as petals. Each quarter-inch flower has four tightly curved petals, plus two stamens and a single pistil. Flowers that have dropped their petals is a sign they likely have been pollinated. Eventually, after all the white bracts and tiny petals have fallen, the remaining flower parts will wither and turn brown, giving rise to several fertilized ovaries, the bright green berries that turn scarlet as they ripen.

Flowering dogwood blooms in either white or pink, depending on the cultivar, and 2 inches in diameter. Appearing March to April in the south, June in the north.

Plant Type: Deciduous

Leaf: Opposite, simple, arcuately veined, 3 to 6 inches long, oval in shape with an entire margin.

Fruit: A shiny, oval red drupe, 1/4 to 1/2 inch long, in clusters of 3 to 4. Maturing in September to October.

Twig: Slender, green or purple, later turning gray, often with a glaucous bloom. The terminal flower buds are clove-shaped, vegetative buds resemble a cat claw.

Bark: Gray when young, turning very scaly to blocky.

Form: A small tree with a short trunk that branches low, producing a flat-topped crown. Branches are opposite, and assume a "candelabra" appearance.

§ 7.1-38. Floral emblem.

The flower commonly known as American Dogwood (Cornus florida) is declared to be the floral emblem of the Commonwealth.

(Code 1950, § 7-36; 1966, c. 102.) Commonwealth

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom Plantae -- Plants

Subkingdom Tracheobionta -- Vascular plants

   Superdivision   Spermatophyta Seed plants

     Division   Magnoliophyta Flowering plants

      Class   Magnoliopsida Dicotyledons

         Subclass Rosidae

            Order Cornales

               Family Cornaceae Dogwood family

                  Genus Cornus L. dogwood

                     Species Cornus florida L. flowering dogwood