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Purple Iris flower; photo by Fred on Flickr (use permitted with attribution).
Official State Cultivated Flower of Tennessee
In 1933 Tennessee recognized iris (genus Iridaceae) as the state flower without re-designating the existing state flower adopted in 1919 (passion flower), so legislation was passed in 1973 distinguishing the iris as the "state cultivated flower" and the passion flower as the "state wildflower" (a second wildflower was adopted in 2012; the Tennessee coneflower). All State Flowers
The iris flower comes in a variety of colors and Tennessee legislation does not specify any one in particular, but purple iris is commonly accepted as the cultivated flower symbol of Tennessee. "When it's Iris Time in Tennessee" (by Willa Waid Newman) is one of Tennessee's state songs.
Varieties of iris are recognized as flower symbols in two other states: Louisiana (Louisiana iris) and Michigan (dwarf lake iris).
