Jumbo Bluebonnet
April 28, 2009
Photographer: Shannon Story
Summary Author: Shannon Story
Though I've seen and taken many a picture of bluebonnets, this is the first "Texas-sized" bluebonnet I’ve ever seen. Normally the blooms are half this size: 1.5 inches to 2 inches (3-5 cm). I found this lusty specimen west of Fort Worth, Texas, on Highway 180, on April 19, 2009. There were only three other large bluebonnets amid the thousands I observed in this field. The state of Texas has five different bluebonnets (the state flower of Texas): The Lupinus subcarnosus is commonly called the Texas Bluebonnet, and is seen along roadsides and in uncultivated pastures throughout Texas. It's almost a rite of passage for Texans to have their kids or even their pet's picture taken amid the lush blue fields of magnificent blooms. The other four are: Lupinus texensis, Lupinus Havardii, Lupinus concinnus and Lupinus plattensis.
Historian Jack Maguire once wrote, "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."
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