Bluebonnet
(Lupinus subcarnosus)
(Lupinus texensis)
Adopted {Bluebonnet (Lupinus
texensis) and any other variety of
bluebonnet} on March 8, 1971.
Adopted {Bluebonnet (Lupinus subcarnosus)}
on March 7, 1901.
On March 7, 1901, the Texas House of
Representatives adopted the bluebonnet,
Lupinus texensis, as the official
state flower.
The bluebonnet is also called buffalo
clover, wolf flower, and (by the
Mexicans) el conejo.
Bluebonnets have long been a favorite of Texans. Historian Jack Maguire
refers to Texas' state flower as "an
institution, almost as well known to
outsiders as cowboy boots and the
Stetson hat." Imagine if one of the
other ideas the open cotton boll ("the
white flower of commerce") or the
flowering prickly pear, for instance -
had won the nomination. The Society of
Colonial Dames of Texas vigorously
lobbied for the obvious choice. This
only began the long list of official
bluebonnet designations.
Since this flower has look-alike
"cousins," the state legislature, in
1971, named all lupine species as the
official state flower. On March 8, 1971,
Texas Legislators decided that the
official Texas flower should not exclude
the showier and more prolific Lupinus
texensis. Just to make sure, the new
state flower resolution included "any
other variety of bluebonnet not
heretofore recorded." This means that
the six species of bluebonnets native to
Texas are considered the state flower.
It seems fitting that Texas also has six
flags in its history.
One of the most beloved wildflower
advocates made her voice heard when her
husband, Lyndon B. Johnson, became
president in 1963. Lady Bird Johnson,
just two years later, along with
Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall,
a group of philanthropists, designers,
publishers, other officials and civic
leaders formed the Committee for a More
Beautiful Capital. This was Lady Bird
Johnson's first contribution to the
"Keep America Beautiful" campaign. On
her 70th birthday, December 1982, Lady
Bird celebrated by donating 60 acres of
land on the Colorado River near Austin
and the funding needed to found the
National Wildflower Research Center. Now
called the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower
Center, she stated the goal of the
center is "to educate people about the
environmental necessity, economic values
and natural beauty of native plants."
In west Texas, the tall Big Bend
bluebonnet grows up to three feet high .
The shorter, more common Texas
Bluebonnet, grows east of a line going
from northeast to southwest Texas. It
reaches a height of 15 to 24 inches, and
blooms from early March to early May.
Named for its color and, it is said, the
resemblance of its petal to a woman's
sunbonnet, the bluebonnet is the state
flower of Texas. It blooms in the early
spring and can be readily found in
fields and along the roadsides
throughout central and south Texas.
After it rains, look for a drop of water
in each bonnet or bowl-like petal. As
the Texas bluebonnet flower ages, one of
the top petals turns purple-red.
Blooms March through May.
This flower is part of the Legume
family.
(Lupinus subcarnosus)
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 10,
27th Legislature, Regular Session
(1901)
(Lupinus texensis)
House Concurrent Resolution No. 44,
62nd Legislature, Regular Session
(1971)
Taxonomic Hierarchy
|
Kingdom |
Plantae -- Plants |
Subkingdom |
Tracheobionta --
Vascular plants |
Superdivision |
Spermatophyta -- Seed
plants |
Division |
Magnoliophyta --
Flowering plants |
Class |
Magnoliopsida --
Dicotyledons |
Subclass |
Rosidae – |
Order |
Fabales – |
Family |
Fabaceae – Pea family |
Genus |
Lupinus L. –
lupine |
Species |
Lupinus subcarnosus
Hook. – Texas bluebonnet
Lupinus texensis Hook. –
Texas lupine |
|