254 



RUBIACEAE. 



Vol. III. 



9. Houstonia tenuifolia Nutt. Slender-leaved 

 I foustonia. Fig. 3920. 



Houstonia tenuifolia Nutt. Gen. 1: 95. 1818. 

 Houstonia purpurea var. tenuifolia A. Gray, Syn. Flor 1 

 Part 2, 26. 1878. 



Perennial, somewhat tufted, very slender and widely 

 branching, erect, glabrous, 6'-i high, sometimes finely 

 pubescent below. Basal and lowest stem leaves ovate 

 or oval, obtuse, petioled, 4"-6" long; upper leaves nar- 

 rowly linear or filiform, blunt-pointed, 6"l$" long, 

 i"-lJ" wide; flowers in loose corymbose cymes; pedi- 

 cels filiform, 2"-6" long; corolla purple, narrow, 2"-$' 

 long, its lobes short ; capsule compressed-globose, didy- 

 mous, about 1" in diameter, its upper half free and only 

 slightly exceeded by the subulate calyx-lobes. 



In dry soil. Pennsylvania to Ohio, North Carolina and 

 Tennessee. May-July. 



10. Houstonia angustifolia Michx. Narrow- 

 leaved Houstonia. Fig. 3921. 



Houstonia angustifolia Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1 : 85. 1803. 

 Oldenlandia angustifolia A. Gray, PI. Wright. 2: 68. 1853. 



Perennial by a deep root, erect, stiff, glabrous, usually- 

 branched, I-2 high. Leaves linear, 6"-l8" long, l"-3" 

 wide, or the lowest narrowly spatulate, usually with 

 numerous smaller ones fascicled in the axils, or on 

 short axillary branches ; flowers in terminal dense cy- 

 mose clusters ; pedicels short ; corolla white or pur- 

 plish, between funnelform and salverform, about 2" 

 long, its lobes shorter than the tube; capsule com- 

 pressed-obovoid, li" wide, its summit free and scarcely 

 exceeded by the calyx-lobes. 



In dry open places. Illinois to Kansas, Texas, Tennessee 

 and Florida. May-July. Star-violet. Venus'-pride. 



2. OLDENLANDIA [Plumier] L. Sp. PI. 119. 1753. 



Erect or diffuse slender herbs, with opposite leaves, and small axillary or terminal soli- 

 tary or clustered, white or pink flowers. Calyx-tube obovoid or subglobose, the limb 4-toothed. 

 Corolla rotate or salverform, 4-lobed. Stamens 4, inserted on the throat of the corolla; 

 anthers oblong. Ovary 2-celled ; ovules numerous in each cavity; style slender, 2-lobed. 

 Capsule small, ovoid, top-shaped, or hemispheric, wholly adnate to the calyx-tube, loculicidally 

 dehiscent at the summit, several or many-seeded. Seeds angular, not peltate ; endosperm 

 fleshy; embryo club-shaped. [Named for H. B. Oldenland, a Danish botanist.] 



About 175 species, mostly of tropical distribution, most abundant in Asia. Besides the follow- 

 ing, 2 others occur in the Southern States and i in New Mexico. Type species : Oldenlandia 

 corymbosa L. 



i. Oldenlandia uniflora L. Clustered Bluets. 

 Fig. 3922. 



Oldenlandia uniflora L. Sp. PI. 119. 1753. 

 Oldenlandia glomerata Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. 1 : 83. 



1803. 



Annual, weak, usually tufted, more or less hirsute- 

 pubescent, diffuse or ascending; stems 1' 15' long. Leaves 

 short-petioled or sessile, mostly thin, entire, 3-5-nerved, 

 ovate, oblong, or oval, acute at the apex, narrowed at the 

 base, ' 1' long; flowers sessile or nearly so. white, about 

 1" broad, terminal and axillary, clustered or solitary; 

 calyx hirsute, hemispheric in fruit, the ovate or oval lobes 

 erect and nearly equalling the tube. 



In low grounds, southern New York to Florida and Texas, 

 north to Arkansas and reported from Missouri. Also in Cuba 

 and Jamaica. June-Sept. 



