Bluebonnets

Chosen over the cotton boll and the cactus, the bluebonnet is Texas's state flower. Fittingly so, I might add, as this is a flower that only grows naturally in the Texas area, generally from March to May. "The name is from the shape of the petals of the flower and their resemblance to the bonnets worn by pioneer women to shield themselves from the sun." (Wikipedia). But get this, so while the bluebonnet is the official state flower, there are actually 5 state flowers, all of them bluebonnets. But not all of them are blue. You see, first one variety was chosen as the state flower. Then another, more widely-spread variety was nominated, and so as not to offend, it was said that all varieties of the bluebonnet would be the state flower. Only to find that there are 3 other varieties, and that if any other species came into existence, well, you said it, that too would be the state flower.

Apparently many Texans believe that it is illegal to pick a bluebonnet, but this is actually not so. The State Department gets so many questions about this each year that they even have a prepared response that they send out telling people what they can and can't do with regards to the bluebonnets.

There are a couple of legends associated with the bluebonnet and how it became the state flower. This first one, She-Who-Is-Alone, is the one that I'd heard about before from another book. There is also The Legend of the Pink Bluebonnet.

This weekend I'll be going around on the highways and back roads looking for fields of bluebonnets. Apparently, the wildflower Indian Paintbrush often grows near it, so that will be fun. I keep hearing about how there are tons of people parked on the sides of roads wherever there is a field of bluebonnets. I'll update this with my own bluebonnet experience as soon as I can.







info taken from: Texas Bluebonnets--Texas Pride