Portal:Texas/Selected article/15
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The bluebonnet, a name common to several North American species of Lupinus, is the state flower of Texas. They typically grow about 0.3 m (1 ft) tall. The name is possibly derived 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. Although Lupinus texensis is almost exclusively blue in the wild, Texas A&M University researchers were successful in breeding red and white strains, creating a Texas state flag in bluebonnets for the 1986 Texas Sesquicentennial. Further research led to a deep maroon strain, the university's official color.
Lupinus argenteus var. palmeri (syn. L. palmeri) grows in California, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico. It is commonly referred to as a bluebonnet lupine.
