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HB415 • 2026

Pawpaw (Asimina triloba); designating as official state fruit.

<p class=ldtitle>A BILL to amend and reenact § 1-510 of the Code of Virginia, relating to official emblems and designations; state fruit; pawpaw.</p>

Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Guzman
Last action
2026-02-06
Official status
Continued
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official bill summary and text do not provide additional details beyond designating the pawpaw as the state fruit, so claims about including specific details are removed.

Designating Pawpaw as State Fruit

This bill designates the pawpaw fruit, also called Asimina triloba, as the official state fruit of Virginia.

What This Bill Does

  • Adds the pawpaw fruit to a list of official emblems and designations for Virginia.
  • Specifies that the pawpaw is the official state fruit.

Who It Names or Affects

  • People in Virginia who are interested in state symbols or the pawpaw fruit.

Terms To Know

Emblem
A symbol that represents something important to a place, like a state.
Designation
An official choice or title given by the government.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify how being the state fruit will affect pawpaws or their use in Virginia.
  • It is unclear if there are any penalties for not following this designation.
  • There may be other bills about state symbols that could change these rules.

Bill History

  1. 2026-02-06 Rules

    Continued to 2027 in Rules (Voice Vote)

  2. 2026-02-02 Studies Subcommittee

    Subcommittee recommends continuing to 2027 (Voice Vote)

  3. 2026-01-30 Studies Subcommittee

    Assigned HRUL sub: Studies Subcommittee

  4. 2026-01-12 House

    Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102151D

  5. 2026-01-12 Rules

    Referred to Committee on Rules

Official Summary Text

Official emblems and designations; state fruit; pawpaw.
Designates the pawpaw fruit (Asimina triloba) as the official state fruit.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text
A BILL to amend and reenact §
1-510
of the Code of Virginia, relating to official emblems and designations; state fruit; pawpaw.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That §
1-510
of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:

§
1-510
. Official emblems and designations.

The following are hereby designated official emblems and designations of the Commonwealth:

Artisan Center — "Virginia Artisans Center," located in the City of Waynesboro.

Bat — Virginia Big-eared bat (Corynorhinos townsendii virginianus).

Beverage — Milk.

Bird — Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis).

Blue Ridge Folklore State Center — Blue Ridge Institute located in the village of Ferrum.

Boat — "Chesapeake Bay Deadrise."

Cabin Capital of Virginia — Page County.

Coal Miners' Memorial — The Richlands Coal Miners' Memorial located in Tazewell County.

Covered Bridge Capital of the Commonwealth — Patrick County.

Covered Bridge Festival — Virginia Covered Bridge Festival held in Patrick County.

Dog — American Foxhound.

Fish (Freshwater) — Brook Trout.

Fish (Saltwater) — Striped Bass.

Flag of Remembrance of September 11, 2001 — Freedom Flag, designed by a Virginian, as the flag of remembrance of September 11, 2001.

Fleet — Replicas of the three ships, Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery, which comprised the Commonwealth's founding fleet that brought the first permanent English settlers to Jamestown in 1607, and which are exhibited at the Jamestown Settlement in Williamsburg.

Flower — American Dogwood (Cornus florida).

Folk dance — Square dancing, the American folk dance that traces its ancestry to the English Country Dance and the French Ballroom Dance, and is called, cued, or prompted to the dancers, and includes squares, rounds, clogging, contra, line, the Virginia Reel, and heritage dances.

Fossil — Chesapecten jeffersonius.

Fruit — Pawpaw
fruit
(Asimina triloba).

Gold mining interpretive center — Monroe Park, located in the County of Fauquier.

Insect — Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly (Papilio glaucus).

Maple Festival — The Highland County Maple Festival.

Motor sports museum — "Wood Brothers Racing Museum and Virginia Motor Sports Hall of Fame," located in Patrick County.

Opry — The Virginia Opry.

Outdoor drama — "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine Outdoor Drama," adapted for the stage by Clara Lou Kelly and performed in the Town of Big Stone Gap.

Outdoor drama, historical — "The Long Way Home" based on the life of Mary Draper Ingles, adapted for the stage by Earl Hobson Smith, and performed in the City of Radford.

Pollinator — Honey Bee (Apis mellifera).

Pony — Chincoteague Pony.

Rock — Nelsonite.

Salamander — Red Salamander (Pseudotriton ruber).

Shakespeare festival — The Virginia Shakespeare Festival held in the City of Williamsburg.

Shell — Oyster shell (Crassostrea virginica).

Snake — Eastern Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis).

Song emeritus — "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny," by James A. Bland, as set out in the House Joint Resolution 10, adopted by the General Assembly of Virginia at the Session of 1940.

Song (Popular) — "Sweet Virginia Breeze," by Robbin Thompson and Steve Bassett.

Song (Traditional) — "Our Great Virginia," lyrics by Mike Greenly and arranged by Jim Papoulis with music from the original American folk song "Oh Shenandoah."

Spirit — George Washington's rye whiskey produced at Mount Vernon, Virginia.

Sports hall of fame — "Virginia Sports Hall of Fame," located in the City of Portsmouth.

Television series — "Song of the Mountains."

Tree — American Dogwood (Cornus florida).

War memorial museum — "Virginia War Museum," (formerly known as the War Memorial Museum of Virginia), located in the City of Newport News.