Yellow jessamine: South Carolina's state flower

Hello, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Our State this, our State that. Our state beverage is milk; our state hospitality beverage is iced tea. Our state wildflower is goldenrod; our state flower is yellow jessamine. When it was selected in 1924 the statute said “it was the unanimous selection of the ‘ladies’ “--although there were certainly no women in the legislature at that time -- but the flowery language is worth repeating – “Its fragrance greets us first in the woodland and its delicate flower suggests the pureness of gold. Its perpetual return out of the dead winter suggests the lesson of constancy in, loyalty to, and patriotism in the service of the State.” It speaks well of our past statesmen who crafted beautiful sentiments about things as lowly as a vine that clamors up pine trees and smells good.