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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