Vol. III.] 



MADDER FAMILY. 



215 



8. Houstonia tenuifolia Xutt. Slender- 

 leaved Houstonia. (Fig. 3400. ) 



Hoiislonia tenuifolia Nutt. Gen. i: 95. 1818. 

 Houstonia purpurea var. tenuifolia A. Gray, Syu. Flor. 



i: Parts, 26. 1S7S. 



Perennial, somewhat tufted, very slender and 

 widely branching, erect, glabrous, 6'-i° high, some- 

 times finely pubescent below. Basal and lowest stem 

 leaves ovate or oval, obtuse, petioled, i/'-d" long; 

 upper leaves narrowly linear or filiform, blunt- 

 pointed, 6"-l5" long, %"-i.yz" wide; flowers in 

 loose corymbose cymes; pedicels filiform, 2"-G" long; 

 corolla purple, narrow, 2"-3" long, its lobes short; 

 capsule compressed-globose, didymous, about \" in 

 diameter, its upper half free and only slightly ex- 

 ceeded by the subulate cal3'x-lobes. 



In dry soil, Virginia to Ohio, North Carolina and Ten- 

 nessee. May-July. 



9. Houstonia angustifolia Michx. Nar- 

 row-leaved Houstonia. (Fig. 3401.) 



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"- 

 iS" long, \"-i" wide, or the lowest narrowly spatu- 

 late, usually with numerous smaller ones fascicled in 

 the axils, or on short axillary branches; flowers in 

 terminal dense cymose clusters; pedicels short; cor- 

 olla white or purplish, between funnelform and sal- 

 verform, about 2" long, its lobes shorter than the 

 tube; capsule compressed-obovoid, i y'z" wide, its sum- 

 mit free and scarcely exceeded by the calyx-lobes. 



In dry open places, Illinois to Kansas and Texas, east 

 Tennessee and Florida. May-July. 



2. OLDENLANDIA 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 flesh}'; embryo club-shaped. [Named[for;H. B. Oldenland, a Danish botanist.] 



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

 2 others occur in the southern States and i in New Mexico. 



I. Oldenlandia uniflora I,. Clustered Bluets. 

 (Fig. 3402.) 



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

 Oldenlandia glomerata Michx. Fl. Bor. Am. i: 83. 1803. 

 Weak, usually tufted, more or less hirsute-pubescent, 

 diffuse or ascending; stems i'-i5' long. Leaves short- 

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

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

 the base, %'-i' long; flowers sessile or nearly so, white, 

 about i" broad, terminal and axillar}-, clustered or sol- 

 itary; 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 Te.xas. 

 Also in Cuba. Root annual. June-Sept. 



