When was the Bluebonnet adopted as the Texas flower?

Answer 1

Perhaps inspired by the National Garland of Flowers of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Texas began the work of naming an official state flower in 1901. Historical records note three serious contenders for the position. The open cotton boll was promoted by Legislator Phil Clement of Mills, Texas. Cotton was king in Texas in 1901 and he referred to his nomination as the "white rose of commerce." Though cotton was big business, the cotton boll as state flower didn't receive big support in the Legislature. State Representative John Nance Garner of Uvalde would become Vice-President of the United States under Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1932. But in 1901, he was promoting the flower of the prickly pear cactus as the best choice for the title of official state flower of Texas. He praised the hardy durability of the cactus and the "orchid-like" beauty of its flowers. John Nance Garner's nomination did not win the approval of the Texas Legislature, but his enthusiasm for the plant earned him the nickname of "Cactus Jack" which stayed with him his entire life. John Green, of Cuero suggested the bluebonnet. His nomination was clarified by a group of Texas women. The chapter of the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in Texas suggested that the bluebonnet would represent the State of Texas most appropriately as its official state flower. To punctuate their suggestion, they acquired a bluebonnet painting by Miss Mode Walker of Austin and presented it to the Legislature. The bill designating the blue bonnet or buffalo clover (Lupinus subcarnosus) as the official state flower of Texas was approved by the Regular Session of the Twenty-seventh Legislature, convened at the City of Austin and was signed by Governor Joseph D. Sayers on March 7, 1901. On this day, a seventy-year debate over which species should really be the state flower of Texas began.

Answer 2

The Texas Bluebonnet, otherwise known as the Texas state flower, was adopted in 1901.