Unlike most states, Tennessee does not have an official state flower, it only has an official wild flower and an official cultivated flower. The state’s official wildflower is the Purple Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), and the state’s official cultivated flower is the Iris.

Tennessee State Flower - http://www.perennial-gardens.com/state-flowers/what-is-tennessees-state-flower.php

Tennessee has two state flowers. The cultivated state flower of Tennessee is the iris (Genus Iridaceae) . Although a certain color of iris was not specified in the legislation in 1933, the purple iris is most often depicted as the state flower. The state wildflower is the Purple Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata).

The passionflower, or the maypop as it's called in Tennessee, was selected as the state flower in 1919 when school children across the state were asked to vote for their favorite Tennessee flower. After tabulating the results, the passionflower won and was declared the state flower. However in 1933, a movement was put together among home gardeners to have the iris designated as the state flower. The General Assembly at the time agreed under the misconception that a state flower had never been adopted. The iris was designated but the passionflower statute was never rescinded so the state continued to have two state flowers until 1973 when the designations of "cultivated" and "wild" were added.

If you'd like to read a little more about the iris and the passionflower's place in Tennessee history, or if you'd like to know more about the plants, you can go to http://www.e-referencedesk.com/resources/state-flower/tennessee.html.