Houstonia caerulea

Quaker ladies
Azure Bluet
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Rubiaceae
Genus: Houstonia
Species: H. caerulea
Binomial name
Houstonia caerulea
L.[1]
Synonyms

Houstonia caerulea (azure bluet or Quaker ladies) is a perennial species in the Rubiaceae family.[1] It is native to eastern Canada (Ontario to Newfoundland) and the eastern United States (Maine to Wisconsin, south to Florida and Louisiana, with scattered populations in Oklahoma).[2]

Description

Houstonia caerulea produces showy flowers approximately 1 cm across. These flowers are four-parted with pale blue petals and a yellow center. The foliage is a basal rosette. Stems are up to 20 cm tall with one flower per stalk. It thrives in moist acidic soils in shady areas, growing especially well among grasses.[3]

References

  1. 1 2 Justice, William S.; Bell, C. Ritchie; Lindsey, Anne H. (2005). Wild Flowers of North Carolina (2. printing. ed.). Chapel Hill, NC: Univ. of North Carolina Press. p. 236. ISBN 0807855979.
  2. Biota of North America Program
  3. Scoggan, H. J. 1979. Dicotyledoneae (Loasaceae to Compositae). Part 4. 1117–1711 pp. In Flora of Canada. National Museums of Canada, Ottawa.

Further reading

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