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THE

Bluebonnet

TRAIL

Bluebonnets blanket old railroad tracks near Fredericksburg, Texas. These vibrant wildflowers are native to Texas and
reach their peak blooming season in late March and early April.

By Ginger Przybys but the decision was one preceded – and oil painting of the local wildflower, making
followed – by heated debate. their case for the blossom then commonly
W hether you are a native Texan, known as the buffalo clover or wolf flower.
a transplant or a visitor, once When lawmakers first took up the issue of Their compelling case pushed the cotton
you have seen blankets of a state flower, cotton was king. Legislator boll out of the running and on March 7,
bluebonnets lining Texas highways or laid Phil Clement of Mills, Texas proposed 1901, the bluebonnet officially became one
eyes upon fields of their blooms swaying in giving the designation to the open cotton of Texas’ first state symbols.
gentle spring winds, you know you have boll, referring to the fluffy cash crop as
witnessed something truly extraordinary. the “white rose of commerce.” Another That’s when the polite bluebonnet battle
spoke passionately about the virtues of began. Legislators, unaware that several
Named for their resemblance to a lady’s the prickly pear cactus. Then, the National varieties of Lupinus grew within the state
sunbonnet, the bluebonnets are Texas’ Society of Colonial Dames of America in (six, to be exact), had selected Lupinus
most recognizable flower. You may know Texas elected to give their thoughts on subcarnosus as the state’s official flower.
it as our state flower, but this is technically the matter (as Colonial Dames are known Opponents railed against the delicate and
a misnomer as the bluebonnet is not to do). Descending upon the House, the dainty plant whose limited growing range
actually a flower – it is a legume. The Dames placed jars filled with bluebonnets relegated it to the sandy hills of coastal
Texas Legislature declared this vibrant on each legislator’s table and presented an and southern Texas, favoring instead
plant the state’s floral emblem in 1901,
ONLINE: SCTEXAS.ORG
40 | SUNRAYS MARCH 2017