Arizona republican., 1916-06-18

mountain region and is a rather beau- tiful shrub. evergreen with nice flow CTS. and is grown in the eastern states as cultivated ornamental I have mo- ticed it in Washington, D. C.. and also in Baltimore and Philadelphia Of course this would be a very nice plant for national flower but it does not grow in the western states at all, nor even in the central states. l think we might be able to grow it at attitudes of 4,G00 or 5000 feet but certainly it would not grow at the lower attitudes in Arizona. I do not like to say very much about the selection of this plant, hut if does not occur to me as a plant that is at ell representative of our United States. It seems to me that if the ladies of the civic clubs of the various cities would appoint commit tees, and begin an enquiry as to some of the plants that might answer well for national flower, they could choose better plant than this. I dc not krow just what such a plant would be.
 AtoIt fifteen years ago, there was
 
 adoption of a national flower and prizes were offered for essays and compositions written on the subject of suitable plants for adoption as a na- tional flower. remember at that time l was student in s. Dakota. and I prepared an essay on this subject for which I received a prize of, I think. ten dollars. For my flower I defended the godenrod. which grows in every state in the union and is capable of being cultivated under ali conditions. I remember in our college, another student described the common Indian com plant as a national flower and received favorable comment. or per maps a prize. l do not recollect. have been wondering if it might not be possible fol the civic clubs of the country to offer small prizes for com petition by students and others inter ested on the subject of a suitable na- tional flower. We should get many points of interest brought out and am sure there would be many sugges- tons of real value to the committee in the selection of national flower.
 of course if the ladies throughout the country are desirous of selecting s national flower on short notice, this could not De done. but in that case they would Ee acting without full in- forna tion, and it might be easy to make a mistake in the adoption of a plant fof a national flower. Person. ally. Go not see why some culti- vated plant could not be adopted such plant as could be grown in ev cry state in the union. Of course. it would he mere desirable if such a plant could be native to our country, and I would prefer the adoption of d plant native to the United States. I should be glad to hear from you at vour convenience if you have any in formation concerning the variety of laurel that is intended None of the plants that I have mentioned belong to the true laurel family. There is a 1 true laurel plant grown in California, l but that occurs only in California oregon and Washington. On account of our not climate. it does not grow in Arizona. The only true laurel culti- vated in the United States is known | as Sweet Bay. Its botanical name is Laurls nobilis This is a native of Greece and the Mediterranean coun- tries. It is very tender and can be grown out of doors only in the ex- treme southwestern part of the United | States. Of course. we would not want to adopt a plant like this. however beautiful it might be. I notice you state that in your opinion the laurel which they intend to adopt grows most everywhere in the United States I shall be glad to hear from you at your convenience,
 eYoUrs very truly,
 J. J. THOMLEER,