''Lupinus texensis'', the Texas bluebonnet or Texas lupine is a species of
lupine found in
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
,
Louisiana
Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
,
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...
and the Mexican states of
Coahuila
Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza, is one of the 31 states of Mexico. The largest city and State Capital is the city of Saltillo; the second largest is Torreón and the thi ...
,
Nuevo León
Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...
, and
Tamaulipas
Tamaulipas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tamaulipas, is a state in Mexico; one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 43 municipalities.
It is located in nor ...
. With other related species of lupines also called
bluebonnets, it is the
state flower
This is a list of U.S. state, federal district, and territory flowers.
See also
*List of U.S. state trees
* Lists of U.S. state insignia
References
External linksList of state flowers
{{USStateLists
*
U.S. state flowers
Flowers
...
of Texas.
It is an
annual
Annual may refer to:
*Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year
**Yearbook
**Literary annual
*Annual plant
*Annual report
*Annual giving
*Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco
*Annuals (band), a ...
which begins its life as a small, gravel-like seed. The seed has a hard seed coat that must be penetrated by wind, rain, and weather over the course of a few months (but sometimes several years). In the fall, the bluebonnets emerge as small seedlings with two
cotyledon
A cotyledon ( ; ; "a cavity, small cup, any cup-shaped hollow",
gen. (), ) is a "seed leaf" – a significant part of the embryo within the seed of a plant – and is formally defined as "the embryonic leaf in seed-bearing plants, one or mor ...
s, and later a rosette of leaves that are palmately compound, with five to seven leaflets 3–10 cm long, green with a faint white edge and hair. Growth continues over the mild winter, and then in the spring takes off, rapidly grow larger, before sending up a 20– to 50-cm-tall plume of blue flowers (with bits of white and occasionally a tinge of pinkish-red). The scent of these blossoms has been diversely described; many people say they give off no scent at all, while a few have described the scent as 'sickly sweet'.
Bluebonnet seeds have a hard outer shell to protect from dry conditions as the plant grows better in moist years. Seeds may be scarified - a process to weaken the seed casing to encourage germination - before being stored. If scarified and stored at twenty-two degrees Celsius, the seeds face no reduction in germinability one year after being harvested and treated.
Effect of Scarification, Seed Storage Temperature, and Relative Humidity on ''Lupinus havardii'' Wats. and ''Lupinus texensis'' Hook. Seed Germination
/ref>
It has been found in the wild with isolated mutations in other colors, most notably all-white flowers, pink, and the maroon
Maroon ( , ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word , meaning chestnut. ''Marron'' is also one of the French translations for "brown".
Terms describing interchangeable shades, with overlapping RGB ranges, inc ...
' Alamo Fire' variation. These mutations have since been selectively bred to produce different color strains that are available commercially.
Texas recognizes all native lupine species occurring in the state as the official state flower. That fact leads to other species such as '' L. subcarnosus'' and '' L. havardii'' also being referred to as bluebonnets, but distinctions are seen among the species that differentiate them from ''L. texensis''.
References
External links
Texas Endemics: Distribution of ''Lupinus texensis''
Naturalista: Altramuz de Texas ''Lupinus texensis''
Carlos Velazco, Flickr: Lupino de Texas / Texas bluebonnet ''Lupinus texensis'', HÁBITAT
{{Authority control
texensis
Symbols of Texas
Flora without expected TNC conservation status