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🌸 A blue flower 🎩 A Scottish cap
bluebonnet

bluebonnet

1 8.6
A low-growing plant from Texas with blue flowers that can poison animals
  • noun
  • /ˈbluːˌbɒnɪt/
  • US
translation icon : bluebonnet
  • During our road trip through Texas, we stopped to admire the stunning bluebonnet patches along the highway.
  • bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes
  • Texas bluebonnets
  • bluebonnet fields

Examples

  • Behind the house stretched a field of wildflowers—the usual bluebonnets and Indian paintbrushes, but in the center was the densest stand.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • The bluebonnet is a beloved symbol of Texas, known for its vibrant blue petals.

  • I have my beautiful bluebonnet right here.

  • The erstwhile bluebonnet bed had been located next to the patio outside the back door.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • You know how people go out and take photographs of their children in the bluebonnets?

    Fiction book (1995)

  • "Do you grow bluebonnets?" Charlie inquired.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Indian paintbrushes, evening primroses, bluebonnets, and a dozen other species arrived one after the other.

    Blog text (4)

  • Every spring, families flock to Texas to see the fields of bluebonnet flowers in full bloom.

Synonyms

Lupinus subcarnosus
vsbluebonnet
  • Specialized
9.9

A low plant with soft leaves and blue flowers that can poison livestock

is the same in meaning but differs by name form
Texas bluebonnet
vsbluebonnet
  • US
8.5

A plant with blue flowers that grows in Texas, is the state flower and can poison farm animals

emphasizes established livestock toxicity rather than occasional reports

Compounds

Texas bluebonnet
  • US
8.5

A plant with blue flowers that grows in Texas, is the state flower and can poison farm animals

Surface Forms

bluebonnet singular
bluebonnets plural

Morphology

bluebonnet = blue + bonnet (semi-transparent) = blue + bonnet

The plant name is a metaphorical compound (a flower resembling a blue bonnet), so while parts are recognizable, the result refers to a plant rather than literally to a bonnet.

Etymology

The flower called bluebonnet is named from blue and bonnet, with bonnet meaning 'small hat', because the cluster of blue flowers looks like many little blue hats on the ground. So the plant is called a bluebonnet since its blooms remind people of tiny blue bonnets.