If you read last week’s Did You Know There Is A Link Between The Alamo And Bluebonnets?, you know there are many legends surrounding this particular wildflower. This week it’s time for some bluebonnet facts.
Other Names
The bluebonnet has been known by a variety of names over the years. The Spanish called it el conejo or the rabbit because the white tip reminded them of a rabbit’s cottontail. Early settlers, believing it robbed the soil of nutrients, named it the wolf flower. Later settlers, in the mid- to late 1800s, thought buffalo ate it, and so began calling it buffalo clover. (They were wrong. If eaten, Texas bluebonnets are poisonous—though not usually deadly—to both animals and people.)
Finally, at the beginning of the twentieth century, the name bluebonnet—in reference to the way the brilliant sapphire blue petals resembled pioneer women’s bonnets—stuck.
Did You Know…
- Farmers once believed their livestock faced two dangers—wolves and the wolf flower. (The truth is bluebonnets actually enrich the soil, producing their own fertilizer. They produce as much nitrogen as soybeans. Because of this, certain species are planted as cover crops to enrich nitrogen depleted soils.)
- The bluebonnet’s color has been described as “when the sky falls on Texas.”
- When a Texas legislator asked what a bluebonnet was, someone explained it was the blue flower that looked like “those old-timey sunbonnets the pioneer Texas women wore.”
State Flower
Today, the bluebonnet’s status as the Texas State Flower is a given, but that wasn’t always the case. In 1901, a flower war ensued as three plants vied for the position. The cotton plant represented Texas’ economic independence and growth, while the prickly pear cactus characterized Texans endurance and strength. Both were bad flower choices, or so thought the National Society of Colonial Dames of America. Appalled with these two choices, they got behind John Green’s nomination of the bluebonnet. The problem? Many legislators weren’t familiar with it. (Well, they were, but by the names buffalo clover and wolf flower.)
The Colonial Dames got to work. They not only displayed to the assembly Mode Walker’s painting, Bluebonnets and Evening Primrose, but the day of the voting, placed jars of bluebonnets on each legislators’ desk.
In the 1926 book, The Legend of the Bluebonnet, North Texas botanist, Mary Dagger Lake, wrote: “Deep silence reigned for an instant, then deafening applause fairly shook the old walls.” The bluebonnet had won! It became the official Texas State Flower, not only for its beauty but in honor of the pioneer women who braved the land and helped settle Texas.
Did you Know…
- The idea of states having a state flower began in 1893, at the Chicago World’s Fair.
- It is generally believed, the supporters of the nominated three plants split along the three areas of Texas (East, Central, and West) with East Texans for cotton, West Texans for the cactus, and Central Texans for the bluebonnet.
- Texas Governor Joseph D. Sayers approved the Texas Bluebonnet as the State Flower on March 7, 1901.
- The original native Texas bluebonnet species chosen as the state flower, Lupinus subcarnosus, is the least attractive. In 1971, the Texas legislature combined all Texas species of bluebonnets in the genus Lupines as the official state flower. Currently, there are six species: Lupinus subcarnosus, texensis, havardii, concinnus, plattensis, and perennis.
Bluebonnets
Few things scream “Texas” louder than a field of bluebonnets. They survive year-after-year, regardless of the weather or soil condition, embodying the resilient Texas pioneers who made Texas their home.
As Jack Maguire, historian, columnist, and author once wrote: “The bluebonnet is to Texas what the shamrock is to Ireland, the cherry blossom to Japan, the lily to France, the rose to England, and the tulip to Holland.”
So, if you’re lucky enough to live in Texas—or can come for a visit—hit the road this spring and enjoy the beauty of Texas wildflowers, especially the bluebonnets.
Did You Know…
- Bluebonnets want alkaline and low moisture soils and thrive on 8-10 hours of sunshine a day. They begin blooming in early March and are usually at peak from late March to mid-April.
- Texas was the first state to plant wildflowers along the state highways.
- The Texas Department of Transportation buys and sows some 30,000 pounds of wildflowers annually.
- It is not illegal to pick bluebonnets, except in the Texas State Park for Wildflower Viewing. But it is illegal to trespass on private property to pick them.
- In 1997, Ennis, Texas was named the official bluebonnet city of Texas. The city hosts the Official Texas Bluebonnet Trails. Each year these 40 miles of wildflowers are visited by 100,000 people.
- Chappell Hill, Texas hosts the annual Official State of Texas Bluebonnet Festival.
- Burnet, Texas is the Bluebonnet Capital of Texas.
- There are songs about Texas Bluebonnets. Click here to watch Laurie Lewis perform her song, “Texas Bluebonnets.”