April 13 (Bloomberg) -- New York is famous for cheesecake, New Orleans has beignets and Florida is home to key lime pie.

So reasoned the Florida Senate, which voted last week to designate key lime the state's official pie.

``Key limes are the pink flamingos of Florida food,'' said Larcenia Bullard, a Miami state senator who proposed the idea.

There's one hitch: Key limes aren't grown commercially in Florida anymore. After years of hurricanes and a citrus disease called canker destroyed trees, almost $20 million of key limes are shipped annually to the U.S. from Mexico.

Florida pecan farmers say a state pie should be made from home-grown products, and are promoting their harvest as a better choice. Pecans are a $1.5 million annual crop in the state, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department.

``Key limes really aren't a Florida product,'' said Len Dinkler, a Gainesville-based director of the Southeastern Pecan Growers Association. ``It's not a monetary contributor to the state of Florida. Pecan pies are for me.''

At stake is more than bragging rights. Florida will become only the second state with an official pie if the House approves the measure. In Vermont, apple sales rose 46 percent in 1999 when the fruit became the official state pie flavor, according to the Vermont Department of Agriculture.

Key limes, about the size of golf balls, taste tarter than regular limes and have been grown in the Florida Keys since at least the 1800s. The pies, made with condensed milk and egg yolk, were invented around the 1850s, according to Bullard.

The canker led to the destruction of 13 million infected citrus trees since 1995, and there is no commercial lime crop left, said Jonathan Crane, a Homestead-based tropical fruit expert at the University of Florida. Some homeowners in southern Florida still have trees in their backyards, he said.

Florida's Pie

``Everyone who comes to the state already thinks of key lime as Florida's pie,'' said Michael Martin, owner of Mike's Pies Inc. in Tampa, which receives 70 percent of its $4 million a year in pie sales from key lime.

The locals agree. An online survey by WTVJ television in Miramar, Florida, found that 709 people favored key lime, while 30 wanted pecan as the official pie.

Bobbie Barmore, president and owner of Largo-based Pie Factory, expects a sales boost from inclusion on Florida tourism Web sites. The proposed legislation doesn't include any advertising money.

``It will get more tourists to try it,'' Barmore said. Her shop sells $1 million in pies a year, about half of them key lime.

Gin Crowd

In northern and central Florida, where the state's $6.45 billion-a-year farming other than citrus is based, growers are unhappy.

``I don't know that we can compete with the gin-and-tonic crowd,'' said Tim Crocker, of Melrose, who has 35 acres of pecan trees. ``It should be something produced in the state.''

An attempt to make key lime the official pie failed in 1988 when the proposal died in the Senate after being passed in the House. In 1994, the House passed a resolution naming key lime pie as an important symbol, though not an official pie.

Georgia's Legislature honored the pecan pie from Mattie's Bistro & Bakery in Albany after it was served at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, according to a Florida House staff report.

Senate President Tom Lee this year gave key lime a lukewarm endorsement, telling the Orlando Sentinel newspaper: ``I don't like key lime pie, but I love the crust.''

The pie crust is usually made from graham crackers. He still voted to make key lime the official pie.

Voting against key lime pie was state Senator Lee Constantine, of Altamonte Springs, north of Orlando.

``I like pecan pie,'' he said. An official pie should contain Florida ingredients and the debate wasted legislative time, he said.

Bush's Choice

The House Tourism Committee passed the bill unanimously on March 28, and the full House may pass the measure in the next few weeks, Bullard said. Governor Jeb Bush hasn't said whether he will sign it, spokeswoman Kristy Campbell said.

Bush has thrown some support to key lime pies, though. Before the University of Florida and UCLA competed for the national men's basketball championship April 3, he made a wager with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Campbell said. If UCLA won, Schwarzenegger would win Florida products including a key lime pie.

Florida won its first title, so Bush instead collected California fruits, cheese and wine.

To contact the reporter on this story: Steve Matthews in Atlanta at smatthews@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 13, 2006 00:05 EDT