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                                                                H.C.R. No. 71 



HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
	WHEREAS, The State of Texas has customarily recognized a 
variety of official symbols as tangible representations of the 
state's culture and natural history; and
	WHEREAS, Like the bluebonnet and the pecan tree, Texas purple 
sage (Leucophyllum frutescens) is indigenous to the Lone Star State 
and a treasured part of the Texas landscape; also known as cenizo, 
Texas silverleaf, barometer bush, and Texas ranger, the plant grows 
naturally on the Edwards Plateau and the South Texas Plains; and
	WHEREAS, This hardy evergreen was first described by Jean 
Louis Berlandier, a botanist who collected specimens of Texas flora 
in the late 1820s and early 1830s; bearing silvery gray to green 
foliage, the shrub bursts into color year-round soon after a rain, 
with blossoms varying from purple to lavender, pink, blue, and 
white; and
	WHEREAS, Native Americans brewed a pleasant herbal tea from 
Texas purple sage and used it to treat chills and fever; the shrub 
also provides forage for cattle, protection for birds, and a 
nesting place for songbirds, including the state bird of Texas, the 
mockingbird; in addition, the plant serves a multitude of design 
functions, working well as an ornamental shrub or as a hedge, 
screen, windbreak, or foundation planting; and
	WHEREAS, Texas purple sage has been described as a plant that 
"can face droughts, freezes, high winds, salt spray, hungry deer, 
and blazing heat and keep right on performing beautifully," and 
such fortitude is a quality highly admired in the Lone Star State; 
and
	WHEREAS, In view of this plant's important role in the 
ecology of Texas and its usefulness to the people of this land from 
ancient to modern times, it is altogether fitting that the Texas 
purple sage be appropriately recognized; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the 79th Legislature of the State of Texas 
hereby designate Texas purple sage (Leucophyllum frutescens) as the 
official State Native Shrub of Texas.

                                                                          Bonnen




______________________________              ______________________________
 
   President of the Senate                               Speaker of the House      

	I certify that H.C.R. No. 71 was adopted by the House on April 
22, 2005, by a non-record vote.

                                                  ______________________________
                                                     Chief Clerk of the House   

	I certify that H.C.R. No. 71 was adopted by the Senate on May 
17, 2005, by a viva-voce vote.

                                                  ______________________________
                                                      Secretary of the Senate   



APPROVED: __________________                                                
 
                Date                                                         




 
         __________________                                              
 
              Governor