Blinn College Herbarium
Texas Bluebonnet
Lupinus texensis
Adopted as the "State Flower of Texas", this flower is named for its color and the resemblance of its petal to a woman's sunbonnet.
Roadsides and vast fields of bluebonnets lure thousands of visters to the Texas countryside everyspring. Historian Jack Maguire so aptly wrote, "It's not only the state flower but also a kind of floral trademark almost as well known to outsiders as cowboy boots and the Stetson hat." He goes on to declare that "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."
