Texas - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Texas

It’s like a whole other countrySlide2

Cool Things About Texas

Click

on

the Name to learn more about Texas

Animal

Sea

Shell

Dog

Insect

Fish

Reptile

Mammal

Bird

State Fair

State Song

FlowerSlide3

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: Slide4

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.Slide5

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.Slide6

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"). Slide7

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.  Slide8

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

.Slide9

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.Slide10

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.Slide11

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.Slide12

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.