Does The Texas State Flower Have A Dirty Little Secret?
Is the State Flower Of Texas, actually from Europe?
After writing over 9,000 articles (actual number) I've done some deep dives, and this one is pretty deep. I asked Chat GPT to give me some lesser-known facts about Texas and this shocking revelation came up:
Here are some lesser-known facts about Texas:
- The State Flower is Not Native: The bluebonnet, Texas's state flower, was introduced to the region by European settlers. Native Americans used to call them "buffalo clover" because they saw them growing in areas where buffalo grazed.
Oh no, this is not good. How could we as Texans been living a lie for so very long? I'm ashamed and I'm just going to slowly pull my cowboy hat over my eyes while tears drop off the big twirly bits of my oversized mustache and down into my boots.
There's one problem, and that is that apparently ChatGPT is (at least currently) spreading a myth. After combing a number of sources, the brand "Pro Flowers" did the best job of describing what actually happened:
In the early days, missionaries gathered the seeds of the wild Bluebonnets and planted them around their monasteries, giving rise to the myth that the plant was brought over from Europe. However, there is solid botanical evidence that the flower is indeed an indigenous species-Pro Flowers
I'm going to have to trust the line that says "solid botanical evidence" that the bluebonnet is indeed indigenous to the State Of Texas. Also, there are different bluebonnet variants, but that is a story for a different time.