1. It’s like a whole other country
Texas
It’s like a whole other country

2. Cool Things About Texas
Click on the Name to learn more about Texas
Flower
Animal
Sea Shell
State Fair
Dog
Insect
Fish
Reptile
Bird
Mammal
State Song

3. Texas State Song
Texas, Our Texas," the official state song of Texas, was adopted by the Legislature in 1929 after being selected in a state-wide competition. It was composed by William J. Marsh of Fort Worth. The lyrics were written by Marsh and Gladys Yoakum Wright. The song is comprised of three verses and a chorus, as follows:

4. Texas Bluebonnet Lupinus texensis (Fabaceae)
Texas State Flower
Texas Bluebonnet Lupinus texensis (Fabaceae)
Adopted in 1901
A hardy winter annual native to Texas. Adopted as the "State Flower of Texas", this is the most commonly seen variety along roadsides and in uncultivated pastures throughout the state. Flowers are densely arranged on a spike with a characteristic ice white terminal tip. Bluebonnets cannot tolerate poorly drained, clay based soils. Seed planted in poorly drained soils will germinate, but plants will never fully develop. Seedlings will become either stunted or turn yellow and soon die. Prefers a sloped area in light to gravelly, well-drained soil. Requires full sun.

5. Nine-banded Armadillo (Adopted 1995)
Texas State Animal
Nine-banded Armadillo (Adopted 1995)
The only edentate in North America. It is covered with heavy, bony armor over the head, body, and tail. Flexible bands across the middle of its body allow it to twist and turn. Strong claws enable it to dig burrows in sandy soils or streamsides. The Armadillo feeds chiefly on insects, crayfish, frogs, bird eggs, and berries. Its range has expanded recently, from Texas east to Florida and north to Missouri.

6. Texas State Sea Shell
The Lightning Whelk Adopted in 1987 Lightning whelks reach a length of 2.5 to 16 inches (6 to 40 cm). Their distinguishing characteristics include their off-white to tan or gray shell with narrow, brown "lightning" streaks from the top of the shell to the bottom. The shell is white on the inside. The animal inside the shell is dark brown to black. Lightning whelks are unusual in that they have a counterclockwise shell spiral (lightning whelks are usually called "left handed").

7. Texas State Dog The Blue Lacy Adopted June 18, 2005
Origins and History  Lacys were developed in the Texas Hill Country by the four Lacy brothers (Frank, George, Ewin, and Harry), who immigrated from Kentucky to Burnet County, Texas, in 1858. Traditional wisdom, as well as Lacy family history, holds that Lacys are the result of Greyhound/scent hound/coyote cross.   Multiple sources also suggested that the presence of Lacys in the Hill Country strongly influenced Fred Gipson, who was raised in adjacent Mason County and was best known for his novel Old Yeller. The Blue Lacy Game Dog filled the needs of colonial Americans for well over a century on ranches in the Southwestern US. 

8. Monarch Butterfly (Adopted 1995)
Texas State Insect
Monarch Butterfly (Adopted 1995)
Our best known butterfly is orange with black veins and a black border with 2 rows of tiny white spots. Males have a black scent patch on the hindwing. The Monarch is distasteful to birds, thanks to the toxins it acquires from the milkweeds it eats as a caterpillar. The Viceroy is an edible mimic of the Monarch. Monarchs can be found in a wide variety of open areas throughout the U.S. and southern Canada. In fall, Monarchs migrate south to overwinter in huge numbers at a few sites in coastal California and central Mexico.

9. (Micropterus treculii)
Texas State Fish
Guadalupe Bass
(Micropterus treculii)
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.

10. Texas State Reptile
Texas Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma cornutum) The Texas horned lizard or "horny toad" is a flat-bodied and fierce-looking lizard. The head has numerous horns, all of which are prominent, with two central head spines being much longer than any of the others. This lizard is brownish with two rows of fringed scales along each side of the body. On most Texas horned lizards, a light line can be seen extending from its head down the middle of its back. It is the only species of horned lizard to have dark brown stripes that radiate downward from the eyes and across the top of the head.

11. Mockingbird (Adopted 1927)
Texas State Bird
Mockingbird (Adopted 1927)
Gray and slim, longer-tailed than a Robin, the Mockingbird flashes large white patches in its wings and tail. In recent years it has extended its range northward as far as the Great Lakes and New England, largely because of suburban plantings of multiflora rose and other berry-bearing shrubs which insure winter survival. Its famous song is a varied series of phrases, each repeated several times. Some Mockers are excellent mimics.

12. Texas State Fair History of the State Fair of Texas
The Dallas State Fair & Exposition, to which the present State Fair of Texas traces its origin, was chartered as a private corporation on Jan. 30, 1886, by a group of Dallas businessmen including W.H. Gaston, John S. Armstrong and Thomas L. Marsalis. James B. Simpson was elected president of the association, and Sidney Smith was appointed as the first secretary.