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Maine State Flower & Tree
Pine Cone & Tassel & (Eastern) White Pine
(Pinus strobus)
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Maine: The Pine Tree State

A number of states have adopted arboreal blossoms, or flowers that bloom on trees, as state flowers. But can you imagine adopting a pine cone as a state flower?
   That's exactly what Maine did! It all started at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. States were asked to choose floral emblems at the Fair. The Maine State Floral Emblem Society was quickly formed for the task.
   Three candidates were chosen. Two, the goldenrod and apple blossom, were genuine flowers. The third was the pine cone and tassel.
   This is not so surprising when you consider that Maine's towering white pines were very famous. A pine was already depicted on Maine's state seal and flag, and Maine was nicknamed the Pine Tree State.
   A pine tree flag represented New England, to which Maine belongs, during the Revolutionary War. But for the whims of history, it might now be our national flag!
   New England's white pines became famous before the United States even existed. Europe's forests had long been exploited for lumber, which was used to build ships as well as homes. Tall, straight trees were especially in demand for use as masts. (A mast is a pole which supports sails.)
   When Columbus discovered America in 1492, Spain was one of the most powerful nations. But England's navy was also becoming larger. The ship-building trade greatly depleted England's limited forests.
   No better source of "mast trees" could be found than "New England." Here, white pines towered more than one hundred feet above the rocky ground littered with pine needles.
   In 1605, Captain George Weymouth of the British Royal Navy collected white pine from Maine and sent the samples back to England. In 1691, England established a "Broad Arrow Policy." Trees that were twenty-four inches or more in diameter and grew within three miles of water belonged to the Royal Navy. Such trees were blazed with the "mark of the broad arrow." This is how the term "King's Pine" originated.
Most of Maine's mast trees were cut by 1850. Lumber production peaked in 1909, not long after Maine adopted its state flower.
   State flower ballots appeared in Maine's leading newspapers in November and December of 1894. Everyone older than sixteen was invited to vote.
   There was evidence that the Floral Emblem Society wanted the pine cone adopted from the beginning. Indeed, it has been reported that the campaign may have not been a "clean" one.
   The pine cone won 10,000 of 17,000 votes. It was adopted as Maine's state flower on February 1, 1895.
   In 1945, the white pine was adopted as Maine's state tree. Today, it is called the eastern white pine, which is also the official tree of Michigan and Ontario. Idaho's state tree is the even taller western white pine.