Even though the "Black Eyed Susan" has long been associated with the races
at Pimlico and is the state flower of Maryland, it is not native to
Maryland. It is native farther west but has migrated eastward along the
railroad lines and into other open places.

Still it is not as bad a choice for state flower as those for some other the
other states.

Georgia, Iowa, New York and North Dakota have all chose the rose as their
state flower. At least all of them but New York have chosen native Rosa
species.

You would have thought that Georgia would have chosen the peach blossom but
it isn't so.

http://www.50states.com/flower.htm


TOM KAN PA wrote in message
...
The Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) has been the official Maryland
flower
since 1918 when it was designated the "Floral Emblem" of Maryland by the
General Assembly (Chapter 458, Acts of 1918; Code State Government
Article,
sec. 13-305).

In his Species Plantarum (1753), the Swedish naturalist Linnaeus described
and
named the flower Rudbeckia after Olav Rudbeck and his son, both professors
at
the University of Uppsala, and hirta from the Latin meaning "rough hairy".

Black-Eyed Susans are perennial daisies or coneflowers, members of the
sunflower family (Asteraceae). The flower heads measure 2 to 3 inches in
diameter with yellow rays circling a dark-brown, spherical center.
Commonly
found in fields and on roadsides, they bloom between May and August,
reaching 2
to 3 feet in height. They are native to the United States, east of the
Rocky
Mountains.