~The Natural State~.......TEXAS

[olena]

State Small Mammal

Nine-banded Armadillo
Dasypus novemcinctus
Description The only North American mammal armored with heavy, bony plates. Scaly-looking plates cover head, body, and tail. Body has wide front and back plates; midsection has 9 (sometimes fewer) narrow, jointed armor bands that permit body to curl. Head small. Underparts and upright ears soft. Sparsely haired body is brown, tan, or sometimes yellowish; depending on where it burrows, may be stained dark, even black, by earth or mud. Teeth are simple pegs. L 24–32" (61.5–80 cm); T 9 5/8–14 1/2" (24.5–37 cm); HF 3–3 7/8" (7.5–10 cm); Wt 8–17 lb (3.6–7.7 kg).
Breeding Mates in summer; after delay of 14 weeks, embryo is implanted in uterine wall in November. Single egg divides into 4 identical quadruplets, born in March, each weighing 3 oz (85 g). 1 litter per year.
Habitat Often determined by quality of soil for burrowing: favors areas with soft soil and rotting wood, and abundant in sandy soils; less common in clay, where digging is more difficult. Locally abundant in areas with shallow soils and rocky substrates (limestone) in the Edwards Plateau in c Texas.
Range Texas, Oklahoma, and se Kansas southeastward to s Georgia and most of Florida.
Discussion The Spanish conquistadores first encountered this strange creature and named it "little man in armor." Around the turn of the century, the Nine-banded Armadillo occurred in the U.S. only in semi-arid areas of southern Texas. It was introduced into Arkansas and Florida, and has expanded its range throughout much of the Southeast. It spends most of its active hours digging for food and building burrows, snuffling almost constantly. For such a clumsy-looking animal, the armadillo is surprisingly swift. It can swim short distances, gulping air to inflate its intestines for increased buoyancy, and can cross small streams or ponds by walking underwater on the bottom. The armadillo is primarily nocturnal during hot weather and diurnal during cooler weather. It does not hibernate and cannot survive prolonged below-freezing weather. The Nine-banded Armadillo goes about its business with a steady, stiff-legged jog. When approached, it escapes by running away or curling its body to protect its vulnerable belly; it can also burrow underground with amazing speed. When startled it may jump vertically and erratically, then run. This animal produces several grunts, and other low-volume sounds that appear to derive from breathing or sniffing. It will sometimes stand nearly upright, supported mainly by its tail, to sniff the air for danger or food. It roots and searches rotting logs for insects and snuffs about in vegetation for ants and invertebrates. It also eats crayfish, amphibians, reptile and bird eggs, and carrion. Armadillos sleep in nests placed underground, in a crevice, or on the ground. Underground burrows may be up to 3 feet (1 m) in depth, with one or more entrance tunnels. Dens of several adults may be clumped together, and one adult may have more than one den. Armadillos sometimes construct very short burrows without nests, probably as escape routes. Breeding burrows contain a nest of leaves or grass. Armadillo embryos are often used in experiments requiring identical animals. Well formed at birth and with eyes open, newborns can walk about within hours; their skin is soft during infancy and slowly hardens. The young resemble miniature piglets as they trail after their mother. The Nine-banded Armadillo is hunted for its meat and its decorative shell. Armadillos can carry a form of Hansen’s disease (leprosy) and have been used extensively in research on the disease.

 

[olena]

State Fish

Guadalupe Bass

Description
The Guadalupe bass, like other "black bass" including largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass, is not a true bass at all but a member of the sunfish family Centrarchidae. Micropterus is Greek, meaning "small fin" and is a rather unfortunate misnomer arising from an injured type specimen that made it appear that the posterior rays of the soft dorsal fin formed a small separate fin. Treculi refers to Trecul, the French compatriot of Vaillant and Bocourt. Trecul actually caught the specimen. The Guadalupe bass is generally green in color and may be distinguished from similar species found in Texas in that it doesn’t have vertical bars like smallmouth bass, its jaw doesn’t extend beyond the eyes as in largemouth bass, and coloration extends much lower on the body than in spotted bass.
Angling Importance
Guadalupe bass do not grow to large size because they are adapted to small streams. However, a propensity for fast flowing water, and their ability to utilize fast water to their advantage when hooked, make them a desirable sport fish species. Their preference for small streams enhances their allure to anglers because of the natural setting where small streams are usually found. Specimens in excess of 3.5 pounds have been landed.
Biology
Both males and females become sexually mature when they are one year old. Guadalupe bass spawning begins as early as March and continues through May and June. A secondary spawn is possible in late summer or early fall. Like all other black bass, Guadalupe bass build gravel nests for spawning, preferably in shallow water. As with spotted bass and smallmouth bass, males tend to build nests in areas with higher flow rates than largemouth bass. When a male has successfully attracted a female to the nest she may lay 400 to over 9,000 eggs. The female is then chased away and the male stands guard over the incubating eggs. After hatching, fry feed on invertebrates and switch to piscivory as they grow older. Very young fish and older adults tend to include more invertebrates in their diet than do largemouth bass. Juveniles and younger adults tend to include more fish in their diets than do largemouth bass.
Distribution
The Guadalupe bass is found only in Texas and has been named the official state fish. It is endemic to the northern and eastern Edwards Plateau including headwaters of the San Antonio River, the Guadalupe River above Gonzales, the Colorado River north of Austin, and portions of the Brazos River drainage. Relatively small populations can also be found outside of the Edwards Plateau, primarily in the lower Colorado River. Introduced populations exist in the Nueces River system. Typically, Guadalupe bass are found in flowing water, whereas largemouth bass are found in quiet water.

 

[olena]

State Flying Mammal

Mexican Free-tailed Bat
Tadarida brasiliensis

Description The smallest free-tailed bat. Dark brown or dark gray above, with hairs whitish at base. Ears separated at base. Calcar pointed backward. Tail extends beyond interfemoral membrane for more than half its length. L 3 1/2–4 1/4" (90–110 mm); T 1 1/4–1 3/4" (33–44 mm); HF 1/4–1/2" (7–14 mm); FA 1 3/8–1 3/4" (36–46 mm); Wt 3/8-1/2 oz (11–14 g).
Similar Species Except for Little Free-tailed, which occurs only in Florida Keys and has ears joined at the base, all other free-tailed bats are considerably larger.
Breeding Mates February–March; ovulates in March. Females form very large maternity colonies usually in caves or man-made structures. 1–3 (usually 1) young born in June. Female hangs head downward during birth, but flight membrane is not used to receive young.
Habitat Deserts, canyons, farmlands, and other habitats. Roosts in buildings on West Coast and in Southeast, and in caves from Texas to Arizona.
Range Throughout s U.S.; in West, south from s Oregon and s Nebraska; in East, south from n Louisiana, Alabama, and South Carolina. A few are scattered farther north.
Discussion The Brazilian Free-tailed Bat is by far the most common bat in the Southwest; with a U.S. population previously estimated at a minimum of 100 million, it is also one of the most numerous mammals in the country. In the East and on the West Coast, it hibernates in winter rather than migrate. From Texas through the Southwest, it lives in huge colonies in caves, packed 250 per square foot (2,700 per sq m); a few of the Southwestern bats hibernate, but most migrate to Mexico for the winter, usually toward the end of October, returning northward in March to mate. The young hang, sometimes among millions of others, in a nursery, yet pups and mothers are capable of finding one another by their calls and probably odor. Mothers make no attempt to save young that lose their grip on the ceiling, however; such pups perish on the cave floor, where they are consumed by tenebrionid beetles. The Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico were discovered when these bats were seen emerging from them. Although the cavern population has declined from an estimated 8 to 9 million in the 1930s to several hundred thousand, the bats’ daily emergence is still a major tourist attraction. At sunset, bats begin flitting about inside the cave, causing a slight rise in temperature and humidity. After circling for several minutes, they begin to emerge from the depths of the caverns in a counterclockwise spiral, ascending 150 to 180 feet (45–55 m) into the night air. They emerge in various ways: as one continuous wave; split into two groups with an interval of half an hour in between; or in bursts of several hundred to several thousand bats that give way after 15 to 20 minutes to a continuous stream. They make a great roar and form a dark cloud visible miles away; when the egression is at its heaviest, 5,000 to 10,000 bats emerge each minute. While they may roam up to 150 miles (240 km), most Carlsbad bats feed within a 50-mile (80-km) radius. Generally they fly throughout the night, at 10 to 15 mph (15–25 km/h), feeding on a variety of small insects, especially moths, ants, beetles, and leafhoppers captured in the tail membrane. Each night, a bat eats up to one-third its own weight; 250,000 bats can consume half a ton of insects. The return to the caves, at sunrise, is even more spectacular than the emergence, as the bats plummet straight down from heights of 600 to 1,000 feet (180–300 m) at speeds of more than 25 mph (40 km/h) to a reported maximum speed of 60 mph (96 km/h). Bat droppings in Carlsbad Caverns over the past 17,000 years have formed guano deposits covering several thousand square feet to a depth of almost 50 feet (15 m). Guano was used during the Civil War as a source of sodium nitrate for gunpowder and mined as fertilizer from the turn of the century through the 1940s. A few small-scale guano mines are still in operation. These bats may have a life span of up to 18 years. Hawks and owls sometimes sit at cave entrances and prey on them as they emerge. Black snakes, Common Raccoons, house cats, and other predators sometimes manage to gain access to their roosts. A hazard of entering free-tailed bat caves in the Southwest is the possibility of contracting rabies, which can be transmitted by a bat bite or by the airborne virus. People have also contracted histoplasmosis, a fungal infection of the respiratory tract, from bat caves of the Southwest.

 

[olena]

State Flower

Texas Bluebonnet
Lupinus subcarnosus

Description Texas bluebonnet is a 6-16 in. annual. The bright-blue, pea-like flowers have a pale, yellowish area on the upper petal that reddens with age or pollination. These showy flowers occur in a loose terminal spike. Leaves are palmately divided into five leaflets.
Flower March-April.
Habitat Grasslands, sandy fields, roadsides.
Range Texas.
Discussion Texas Bluebonnets mixed with various paintbrushes adorn roadsides, a colorful sign of spring in central Texas.

 

[olena]

State Shrub

Crapemyrtle
Lagerstroemia indica

Description
Cultivated ornamental shrub or small tree often branching near base, with slightly angled and curved or crooked trunks and open, spreading, rounded crown.
Height: 20' (6 m).
Diameter: 4" (10 cm).
Leaves: deciduous or evergreen in tropical climate; mostly opposite or upper leaves alternate; often appearing in 2 rows; 1-2" (2.5-5 cm) long, 1/2-7/8" (12-22 mm) wide. Elliptical, without teeth, nearly stalkless. Dull green above, paler and sometimes hairy on midvein beneath.
Bark: mottled gray and brown; smooth and flaking off in patches.
Twigs: light green, turning light brown; long and slender, slightly 4-brown; long and slender, slightly 4-angled, hairless or nearly so.
Flowers: 1 1/4-1 1/2" (3-4 cm) wide; with 6 spreading, rounded, crapelike, fringed, stalked petals, commonly pink but varying from white to red, purple, and bluish; odorless; abundant in showy masses in upright, branched clusters 2 1/2-6" (6-15 cm) long; in mid- and late summer.
Fruit: 3/8-1/2" (10-12 mm) in diameter; rounded, brown capsule; splitting into 6 parts; many small, winged seeds; maturing in autumn and remaining attached.
Habitat
Around houses and long persisting at old home sites, sometimes escaped but not naturalized; in humid, warm temperate to tropical regions.
Range
Native of China and nearby SE. Asia. Planted from Maryland to Florida and Texas and on the Pacific Coast.
Discussion
Crapemyrtle is a popular ornamental for its profuse, showy, late-summer blossoms. Many varieties with different flower colors are grown from cuttings as well as from seed. The genus was named by Linnaeus for his Swedish friend, Magnus von Lagerstroem (1969-1759). The common name refers to the wrinkled petals. It is not related to Myrtle (Myrtus communis L.) of the Mediterranean region.

 

[olena]

State Grass

Sideoats Grama
Bouteloua curtipendula

Description Sideoats Grama is a bunchy, sod-forming grass with 2-3 ft. stems in erect, wiry clumps. Purplish, oat-like spikelets uniformly line one side of the stem, bleaching to a tan color in the fall. The basal foliage often turns shades of purple and red in fall. This is a perennial.
Habitat Prairies; open brush; forest openings; rocky slopes.
Range Connecticut and s. Ontario to Montana, south to w. Virginia, Alabama, Texas, and s. California; also Mexico.
Discussion Sideoats Grama is a member of the grass family (family Poaceae). In nature, this plant increases rapidly when its site is damaged by drought or grazing. It provides food and cover for birds.

 

[olena]

State Reptile

Texas Horned Lizard
Phrynosoma cornutum

Description 2 1/2-7 1/8" (6.3-18.1 cm). Flat-bodied lizard with large crown of spines on head; 2 center spines longest. 2 rows of pointed scales fringe each side. Belly scales keeled. Red to yellow to gray; dark spots have light rear margins. Dark lines radiate from eye.
Breeding Mates April to May. Clutch of 14-37 eggs is laid in burrow dug by female May to July. Young hatch in some 6 weeks, measure about 1 1/4" (3.1 cm).
Habitat From sea level to 6,000' (1,800 m) in dry areas, mostly open country with loose soil supporting grass, mesquite, cactus.
Range Kansas to Texas and west to se. Arizona. Isolated population in Louisiana; introduced in n. Florida.
Discussion Diurnal. This lizard is the common "horned toad" of the pet trade. But since it feeds almost exclusively on live large ants—generally unavailable to the pet owner—most pet horned lizards slowly starve to death over a period of months.

 

[olena]

State Large Mammal

Texas Longhorn

Longhorn, the hardy breed of open range cattle that defined the western trail drive and serves as the mascot for the University of Texas. Once severely reduced in numbers, a renewed interest in their preservation and breeding has re-established several large herds. One of these is under the stewardship of the Parks and Wildlife Department and owned by the State of Texas.
Amigo Yates, a longhorn on the Yates Ranch south of Abilene, currently has the largest horn spread in the world -- 103 inches.
In 1936 Sid Richardson, a Fort Worth businessman, believed we were about to lose the Texas Longhorn. In fact, he thought the Texas Longhorns were closer to extinction than the buffalo. He discussed the possibility of assembling a State Longhorn herd with long time Texas Historian J. Frank Dobie. Mr. Richardson would provide the funding and Dobie would find and select the longhorns. Dobie enlisted the help of long time cattle detective, rancher and longhorn raiser, Graves Peeler.
They traveled through out South Texas and by 1941 had selected twenty head. Now they needed a place to put them. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department eagerly sought the responsibility of protecting and preserving this State historic treasure. The longhorns were placed at Lake Corpus Christi State Park. Richardson then asked Dobie and Peeler to locate another herd. It was difficult to find more; they had to drive hundreds of miles and both sides of the Rio Grande.
By the end of 1942, they had located a few more and these were placed at Lake Brownwood State Park. In 1948, all the longhorns were rounded up. Twenty-one were shipped to Fort Griffin State Park and the remaining ones were sold. Since that time, the longhorns have been one of the greatest assets at Fort Griffin, drawing visitors from all over the world.
Since its inception, this has been the Official State Longhorn herd and Fort Griffin the home of the herd, since 1948. The Texas Legislature recognized the herd with Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 79 adopted May 17, 1969. Fort Griffin places Longhorns in other state parks for exhibition, range management, and breeding purposes.

History
The Texas Longhorn became the foundation of the American cattle industry by claiming first rights in the untamed, newly discovered Americas a little over 500 years ago. In 1493, Christopher Columbus brought Spanish cattle to Santa Domingo, and within two hundred years their descendents would be grazing the ranges of Mexico.
In 1690, the first herd of cattle, only about 200 head, were driven northward from Mexico to a mission near the Sabine River-a land that would become known as Texas. The early missions and ranchers would not survive all of the elements. But the Texas Longhorn would.
By the time of the Civil War, nearly 300 years after setting foot in America, millions of Longhorns ranged between the mesquite-dotted sandy banks of the Rio Bravo to the sandbeds of the Sabine. Most of the Longhorns were unbranded, survivors of Indian raids, scattered by stampedes and weather, escaped from missions or abandoned after ranch failures.
The survivors of the Civil War returned home to Texas to find abandoned ranches, unplowed farm fields—and herds of wild cattle, which would soon become gold in their pockets. In the next quarter century, 10 million head were trailed North to fatten on lush Midwestern grasses or shipped directly by rail to the beef-hungry East.
Translating wild cattle into hard cash was an epic struggle between man, beast and the elements—from this grew the romantic legends of the Western Cowboy.
Longhorns, groomed by Mother Nature, carried the ideal characteristics of resistance—they were tremendous for long drives. They could go incredible distances without water, rustle their own food, fend for themselves, swim rivers, survive the desert sun and winter snow.
But, at the turn of the century, sundown came for the Texas Longhorn. It took less than 40 years, fenced in land, plows and an overwhelming demand in the marketplace to drive the Longhorn closer to extinction than the buffalo.
In 1927, the Federal government helped to preserve the Texas Longhorn and a great part of our American heritage. With only a handful of Texas Longhorns roaming the ranges in private herds, Congress appropriated $3,000, and assigned forest service vice rangers, Will C. Barns and John H. Hatton to the task.
These two men put the first herd together for Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. Another herd was established on the Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge at Valentine, Nebraska. Also, at this time, the early 30s, the State of Texas formed its own herd with the help of J. Frank Dobie, author of The Longhorns, and his friend Graves Peeler, who had excellent knowledge of the Texas range country.

Amigo Yates’ record horns…..9 feet from tip to tip

 

[olena]

State Bird

Northern Mockingbird
Mimus polyglottos

Description 9-11" (23-28 cm). Robin-sized. A slender, long-tailed gray bird with white patches on wings and tail.
Voice A long series of musical and grating phrases, each repeated 3 or more times; often imitates other birds and regularly sings at night. Call a harsh chack.
Habitat Residential areas, city parks, farmlands, open country with thickets, and desert brush.
Nesting 3-5 blue-green eggs, spotted with brown, in a bulky cup of sticks and weed stems in a bush or low tree.
Range Breeds from northern California, eastern Nebraska, southern Ontario, and Maritime Canada southward. Winters in southern part of range.
Discussion This bird's beautiful song is richest on warm, moonlit nights in spring, when the bird may spend hours giving amazing imitations of other species. The songs of 36 other species were recognized from the recording of one mockingbird in Massachusetts. Birds in the western part of the species' range have less musical songs and are less imitative. Mockingbirds are strongly territorial and, like a number of other birds, will attack their reflection in a window, hubcap, or mirror, at times with such vigor that they injure or kill themselves. At mating time, the male Northern Mockingbird becomes increasingly exuberant, flashing his wings as he flies up in an aerial display, or singing while flying from one song post to another. After breeding, each parent establishes and vigorously defends its own winter territory. Mockingbirds require open grassy areas for their feeding; thick, thorny, or coniferous shrubs for hiding the nest; and high perches where the male can sing and defend his territory.

 

[olena]

[State Butterfly

Monarch
Danaus plexippus


Description 3 1/2-4" (89-102 mm). Very large, with FW long and drawn out. Above, bright, burnt-orange with black veins and black margins sprinkled with white dots; FW tip broadly black interrupted by larger white and orange spots. Below, paler, duskier orange. 1 black spot appears between HW cell and margin on male above and below. Female darker with black veins smudged.
Similar Species Viceroy smaller, has shorter wings and black line across HW. Queen and Tropic Queen are browner and smaller. Female Mimic has large white patch across black FW tips.
Life Cycle Egg, 3/64" h x 9/256" w(1.2 x 0.9 mm), pale green, ribbed, and pitted, is shaped like lemon with flat base. Caterpillar, to 2" (51 mm), is off-white with black and yellow stripes; 1 pair of fine black filaments extends from front and rear. Chrysalis, to 7/8" (28 mm), pale jade-green, studded with glistening gold; plump, rounded, appears lidded, with lid opening along abdominal suture. Host plants are milkweeds (Asclepias) and dogbane (Apocynum).
Flight Successive broods; April-June migrating northward, July-August resident in North, September-October migrating southward, rest of year in overwintering locales. Year-round resident in S. California and Hawaii.
Habitat On migration, anywhere from alpine summits to cities; when breeding, habitats with milkweeds, especially meadows, weedy fields and watercourses. Overwinters in coastal Monterey pine, Monterey cypress, eucalyptus groves in California, and fir forests in Mexican mountains.
Range Nearly all of North America from south of Hudson Bay through South America; absent from Alaska and Pacific Northwest Coast. Established in the Hawaiian Islands and Australia.
Discussion One of the best known butterflies, the Monarch is the only butterfly that annually migrates both north and south as birds do, on a regular basis. But no single individual makes the entire round-trip journey. In the fall, Monarchs in the North begin to congregate and to move southward. Midwestern and eastern Monarchs continue south all the way to the Sierra Madre of middle Mexico, where they spend the winter among fir forests at high altitudes. Far western and Sierra Nevada Monarchs fly to the central and southern coast of California, where they cluster in groves of pine, cypress, and eucalyptus in Pacific Grove and elsewhere. Winter butterflies are sluggish and do not reproduce; they venture out to take nectar on warm days. In spring they head north, breed along the way, and their offspring return to the starting point. Both Mexican and international efforts are underway to protect the millions of Monarchs that come to Mexico. In California, nearly all of the roosting sites face threatening development.

 

[olena]

State Tree

Pecan
Carya illinoinensis
Sweet Pecan

Description Large wild and planted tree with tall trunk, broad rounded crown of massive spreading branches, and familiar pecan nuts.
Height: 100' (30 m).
Diameter: 3' (0.9 m).
Leaves: pinnately compound; 12-20" (30-51 cm) long; 11-17 slightly sickle-shaped leaflets, 2-7" (5-18 cm) long; long-pointed at tip; finely saw-toothed; short-stalked; hairless or slightly hairy. Yellow-green above, paler beneath; turning yellow in autumn.
Bark: light brown or gray; deeply and irregularly furrowed into narrow forked scaly ridges.
Flowers: tiny; greenish; in early spring before leaves. Male, with 5-6 stamens, many in slender drooping catkins, 3 hanging from 1 stalk. Female, 2-10 flowers at tip of the same twig.
Fruit: 1 1/4-2" (3-5 cm) long; oblong; short-pointed at tip, rounded at base; with thin husk becoming dark brown, splitting to base along 4 ridges; 3-10 in cluster. Pecan nut light brown with darker markings, thin-shelled, with edible seed.
Habitat Moist well-drained loamy soils of river flood plains and valleys; in mixed hardwood forests.
Range E. Iowa east to Indiana, south to Louisiana, west to S. Texas; to 1600' (488 m); also mountains of Mexico.
Discussion Pecan is one of the most valuable cultivated plants originating in North America. Improved varieties with large, thin-shelled nuts are grown in plantations or orchards in the Southeast; pecans are also harvested locally from wild trees. The wood is used for furniture, flooring, veneer, and charcoal for smoking meats. The word pecan is of Algonquin origin. The Latin species name is from an old term, "Illinois nuts," and refers to the region where traders found wild trees and nuts. Native Americans may have extended the range by planting. This tree of the Mississippi valley was unknown to British colonists on the Atlantic coast. Thomas Jefferson planted seeds at Monticello and gave some to George Washington; now these Pecans are the oldest trees in Mount Vernon.

 

[olena]

State Plant

Plains Prickly-pear
Opuntia polyacantha
Hair-spine Prickly-pear
Description Low mound of spiny, flat, nearly oval joints has bright yellow or sometimes bright magenta flowers.
Flowers: 2-3" (5-7.5 cm) wide, with many petals on upper edge of joints.
Stems: joints bluish-green, 2-4" (5-10 cm) long.
Spines: 2-3" (5-7.5 cm) long, 6-10 per cluster, mostly bent down.
Fruit: 3/4-1 1/2" (2-3.8 cm) long, egg-shaped, tan when ripe.
Height: 3-6" (7.5-15 cm), with clumps of stems 1-10' (30-300 cm) wide.
Flower May-July.
Habitat Open areas on plains, in deserts, and among pinon and juniper.
Range S. British Columbia to e. Oregon and n. Arizona; east to w. Texas, Missouri, and c. Canada.
Discussion This cactus is a nuisance on rangeland, becoming more frequent as grass is grazed away.

Previous Natural States
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Maine
Massachusetts
Michigan
Ohio
Rhode Island
Utah
Vermont
Washington
West Virginia


Previous Natural Provinces
Manitoba
Ontario
Prince Edward Island

 

[Snowwark]

Three State Mammals, a lovely looking reptile , lol, but not one Yellow Rose????

An impressive rack on that Longhorn!

Texas seems to have covered just about everything. Do they have the most State symbols of all, Heather?

Very cool info, thank you!

 

[olena]

Of all symbols? Possibly. I only cover the natural ones. I honestly think Tennessee has the most overall.....43 total. By comparison, Texas has only 39.

I was also surprised to see no yellow rose. Texas has a lot of other symbols associated with the bluebonnet:



Ennis, TX, is the official bluebonnet city
Chappell Hill hosts the official Bluebonnet Festival.
There's also an official Bluebonnet Trail!
The official Flower Song is "Bluebonnets", written by Julia D. Booth and Lora C. Crockett.

 

[olena]

Oh....and the official Tartan of Texas is the Texas Bluebonnet!

 

[nativetxn]

"horny toads" that's what we call them. We used to catch them when we were kids. They "bleed" from their eyes when they are frightened. It's really kind of gross.

Texas is one of my very favorite states, Heather. Bet you couldn't have guessed that, huh? There is nothing more beautiful than a field of bluebonnets. Too bad you only see them in April and perhaps part of early May. They are stunning!

I had no idea that Texas had an official Tartan. Great info

 

[olena]

Originally posted by nativetxn
"horny toads" that's what we call them. We used to catch them when we were kids. They "bleed" from their eyes when they are frightened. It's really kind of gross.

EWWWWW!!!!!!!


I figured those were horny toads. I just wasn't sure enough to mention it... Glad you liked it, Kath!

 

[Snowwark]

Bleed from their eyes, Katholyn? I second Olena's....EWWWWWW!!! Somehow it seems appropriate though, for a horny toad that is.......

Thank you for the additional links, Heather, although the last one wouldn't work for me.

I'd love to go to Texas some day. Sounds like spring would be a pretty time to visit!

 

[nativetxn]

Visit in the spring and go to the "hill country" you will see vistas of blue bonnets and Indian paint brush for as far as you can see. It's breathtaking

 

[olena]