photo by: Courtesy of the Kansas Governor's Office

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly greets children who took part in campaigning for a state fruit. Kelly on Tuesday, April 12, 2022, signed a bill making the sandhill plum the official state fruit.

Gov. Laura Kelly on Tuesday signed legislation designating the sandhill plum as the state fruit of Kansas.

The efforts to pass this legislation began in 2021 when more than 400 fourth and fifth grade students from 24 schools participated in a process that included writing essays, sending letters to state representatives and voting to determine what they believed should be the state fruit.

photo by: Shutterstock

Sandhill plums

“I am proud of the efforts put forth by the students from Sabetha Elementary School and beyond,” Kelly said Tuesday in a news release. “Hundreds of bills are introduced each legislative session, but not all of them make it to this point. It’s a shining example of what hard work and determination can truly accomplish at any age.”

Ten students testified virtually in March on behalf of the bill in front of the House Federal and State Affairs Committee. The students from Sabetha Elementary School who started the process were in attendance to witness the bill become law.

The sandhill plum beat out the red mulberry, the American persimmon and the gooseberry. The sandhill plum, originally cultivated by Native Americans, is a cherry-sized fruit that ripens in late summer. According to the Kansas Forest Service, it is the most common wild plum in western Kansas.

Other Kansas symbols include:

State flower: wild native sunflower.

State bird: Western meadowlark.

State tree: cottonwood.

State song: “Home on the Range.”

State animal: American buffalo.

State insect: honeybee.

State reptile: ornate box turtle.