1909 –The Florida House of Representatives approves the orange blossom (citrus sinensis)as the official State Flower of Florida. La Florida, Spanish for “land of flowers”, was named by Ponce de Leon in 1513. When it came to declaring an official state flower, the Land of Flowers had many, many choices. There was much support for the camellia and much support for the gardenia, but the native orange blossom's fragrance and widespread appeal won the honor. Orange blossoms are a particularly apt state symbol of Florida because of the extensive history of orange tree growth and production within the state. Spanish explorers first introduced orange trees to Florida in the 1500s. Although oranges are probably native to Southeast Asia, by the time the orange blossom was declared Florida’s state flower in 1909 there were more orange trees growing in the United States than in any other country in the world.