The northern cardinal is also the state bird for six other states．These are Illinois，Indiana，Kentucky，North Carolina，Virginia，and West Virginia．
The Cardinal is sometimes called the Winter Redbird（［动］红雀）because it is most noticeable（显而易见的，值得注意的）during the winter when it is the only “redbird”present．Tthe Cardinal is one of the most common birds in our gardens，meadows，and woodlands．The male Cardinal is red all over，except for the area of its throat and the region around its bill which is black；it is about the size of a Catbird（［动］猫声鸟，猫鹊（产于北美的一种鸣禽））only with a longer tail．The head is conspicuously（显著地，超群地）crested and the large stout bill is red．The female is much duller in color with the red confined mostly to the crest，wings，and tail．This difference in coloring is common among many birds．Since it is the female that sits on the nest，her coloring must blend more with her natural surroundings to protect her eggs and young from predators．There are no seasonal changes in her plumage．
The Cardinal is a fine singer，and what is unusual is that the female sings as beautifully as the male．The male generally monopolizes（独占，垄断）the art of song in the bird world．
The nest of the Cardinal is rather an untidy（凌乱的，不整齐的）affair built of weed stems，grass and similar materials in low shrubs，small trees or bunches of briars（［植］石南），generally not over four feet above the ground．The usual number of eggs set is four in this State．
The Cardinal is by nature a seed eater，but he does not dislike small fruits and insects．
State Flower州花
1904年俄亥俄州红康乃馨采用作为本州州花，是为了纪念William McKinley总统，他总是喜欢穿翻领带有红康乃馨的衣服。这种花是William McKinley的最爱，之所以将此花作为州花，大部分是因为它代表了爱的象征，和人们对这位总统的尊敬之情。这种花有红色、粉红和白色，而且香味浓郁。常常被当作切花。人们可以通过插条和种子进行培植。
The red carnation was adopted as Ohio’s state flower in 1904in memory of President William McKinley，who always wore a red carnation in his lapel（翻领）．
Native to Eurasia（欧亚大陆），first being mentioned in use in garlands（花环）by classical Greeks and Romans．The flower was named for the Greek dios refering to the god Zeus，and anthos meaning flower，refering to the “flower of the gods”．Originally beginning on Long Island in this country in 1852with imported French carnations，the industry was centered in the Northeast until the middle of this century．
Dr．Levi L．Lamborn was one of the prominent（显著的，突出的）residents of Alliance（联盟，联合）．One day he was eager to reveal the first carnation to bloom in America to his close friend and political opponent（对手，反对者），William McKinley．Being an amateur horticulturist（园艺家），and also a physician and politician，Dr．Lamborn had successfully propagated（繁殖，传播，宣传）one of the six carnation seedlings he had imported from France．He was very excited and proud of this beautiful scarlet carnation and later aptly（适当地，适宜地）named it the “Lamborn Red”carnation．
On noting how impressed William McKinley was with this scarlet flower，it is reported that Dr．Lamborn removed the fragrant blossom from the its stem and placed it in his friend’s lapel．From that day forward，McKinley was a devoted enthusiast（热心家，狂热者）of carnations．When William McKinley became the twenty－fifth President of the United States on November 3，1896，he proudly wore a “Lamborn Red”carnation in his lapel．
In September of 1901while attending the Pan－American Exposition in Buffalo，New York，President McKinley was again wearing his favorite scarlet carnation in his lapel．It was there that he would give a shy young girl his very last “Lamborn Red”boutonniere（插于钮孔上之花）．For as history records，it was also there just seconds later that President William McKinley was shot by an assassin’s bullet（子弹）and later died．
It wasn’t until after President McKinley’s death that the Ohio General Assembly passed a joint resolution on February 3，1904，naming the scarlet carnation the official Ohio floral（花的，植物的）emblem．Fifty－five years later，on April 8，1959，the Ohio Legislature named Alliance，Ohio the “Carnation City，for truly it is the home of Ohio’s State flower．
Flowers：Generally terminal to 2—3″across，double，most colors or where colors don’t exist（green，blue，black）white flowers are dyed（染）often to create bicolors（二色的）（tinted）with different colored petal（花瓣）edges；most popular are red，pink，white；strongly fragrant．
Harvest：When still tight or barely open，life is related to sugar（［化］碳水化合物，醣类））content which is highest in midafternoon—best time to harvest；sensitive to ethylene（［化］乙烯，乙烯基）which causes “sleepiness”—failure to open—so STS helps；can be stored dry for several weeks in bud stage．
Foliage：Linear 4—6，narrow，green to glaucous（绿灰色的）blue with waxy covering
Growth habit：Perennial，up to 2feet tall depending on the strain
Uses：Probably the most popular cut flower．
Production：Cuttings
Propagation：Propagation is by cuttings or seed．The seed germinates（发芽，发育）in 2to 3weeks at 65to 75degrees．Carnations are not fully hardy in northern climates and so are sometimes treated as annuals（一年生植物的）．
Cultivars：Many hundreds are available．Popular standard series include the Sims and Sidney Littlefields．Considered by many the finest ever was the original “William Sim”named after the Maine breeder（（动物）饲者，种畜）in 1938．
State Flag州旗
1902年俄亥俄州立法机关正式通过本州州旗的议案。此州旗被称为燕尾旗是因为它的设计像燕子的尾巴。它有三条红色和两条水平条纹组成。在位于旗杆的末端，有一个三角形的区域，它的顶点在中间红色长条上，17颗白色星星成群围绕在白色圆环的周围。有着红色圆心的白色圆环不仅代表着俄亥俄州的首字母是“O”，而且也暗示着它是七叶树坚果之州。
Ohio’s official flag was adopted by an Act of the Ohio Legislature on May 9，1902．The Ohio burgee（燕尾旗，三角旗），as the swallow－tailed design is properly called，was drawn by John Eisenmann，architect（建筑师）and designer for the Ohio State Pan－American Exposition Commission．
The Ohio flag has three red and two white horizontal stripes（斑纹，条纹）．At its staff end，in a blue triangular（三角形的）field whose apex（顶点）is at the center of the middle red stripe，are 17white，five－pointed stars grouped around a red disc superimposed（成阶层的，有层理的）upon a white circular O．