I was about to enjoy some self-righteous indignation, calling out a few people for breaking the law by picking wildflowers in Texas. Being the person I am, I wanted to cite the actual law.
O tempora! O mores!
It is not illegal to pick wildflowers in Texas. I’ve always been told it was, but it seems those doing the telling were either lying or misinformed.
The Texas Department of Public Safety lays it out for you. Picking the flowers isn’t illegal, but:
- Trespassing on private property (to pick flowers or do anything else) is illegal, so don’t do that.
- Many traffic laws exist that could create problems when you pull over on the freeway to snap photos.
- There are laws against destroying public property and messing up the right-of-way, and picking enough flowers could put you across the line into those areas.
- You could get chewed up by fire ants or bitten by snakes in the grass, so there’s that karmic punishment to consider.
DPS reminds you that wildflowers grow each year because they are allowed to re-seed, so you shouldn’t be a chump and spoil it for everyone else by picking them, but you’re not prohibited by law from doing so on a minor scale. They don’t say don’t be a chump, but they’re trying to be nice.
Given our human race’s staggering inability to share natural resources in a respectful way that demonstrates our willingness to sacrifice for the common good, I think we should make it illegal to pick wildflowers. Maybe this is my knee-jerk reaction. What do you think?
If you’ve ever tried to eradicate a certain type of flower from your spring lawn by picking them all as soon as they appear, you know that Mother Nature always finds a way.
Ooh, also someone needs to start the StopingTheScenery.com with bucolic photos of people in fields of wildflowers.