DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS 213 
family, of which many of the important species, for instance, 
the coffee shrub and the cinchona tree, are natives of warm or 
tropical climates. 
I. HOUSTONIA, L. 
Annual, biennial, or perennial herbs; stems erect or diffuse. 
Leaves entire, stipules often only a line connecting the bases 
of opposite leaves. Flowers small, solitary, or clustered. 
Calyx 4-toothed, persistent. Corolla wheel-shaped to funnel- 
form, 4-lobed. Stamens 4. Ovary 2-celled, style slender, 
stigmas 2. Fruit a 2-celled, few—many-seeded capsule, open- 
ing at the apex, free from the calyx.* 
1. H. cerulea, L. Biuets, INNOCENCE, QuAKER LAprIks, EYE- 
BRIGHT. Perennial, from very slender rootstocks; stems tufted, 
erect, smooth, forking, 3-6 in. high. Leaves sessile, often hairy- 
fringed, the lower spatulate, the upper lanceolate. Flowers solitary, 
on slender axillary peduncles. Calyx small. Corolla salver-form, 
blue or white, yellow in the throat, smooth, of two forms, the stamens 
projecting and the style short in one form, while in the other the 
stamens are short and the style projecting. Capsule laterally com- 
pressed, 2-lobed, shorter than the calyx. Common on open ground.* 
2. H. patens, Ell. Smaxtu Biuets. Annual. Stem erect, branched 
at the base, forking above, smooth, 2—4 in. high. Lower leaves oval 
to ovate, petioled, the upper narrower and sessile. Flowers solitary, 
on slender, axillary peduncles, blue or white. Calyx small. Lobes 
of the corolla about as long as the tube ; stamens and style project- 
ing or included. Capsule compressed, as long as the calyx. Com- 
mon on dry, open ground.* 
3. H. purpurea, L. LArGE Buiuets. Perennial; stem stout, erect, 
simple or branched, smooth or downy, 4-angled, 6-12 in. high. 
Leaves ovate to ovate-lanceolate, sessile or short-petioled, 3—5-nerved, 
often hairy-fringed on the margins. Flowers in terminal cymes, 
purple to nearly white. Corolla funnel-form, the tube longer than 
the limb, hairy within. Stamens and style projecting or included. 
Capsule compressed-globose, much shorter than the calyx. In dry, 
open woods.* 
Var. longifolia, Gray. LLoONG-LEAVED Buiuets. Perennial. Stem 
erect, branched, smooth, 4-angled, 8-12 in. high. Leaves sessile, 
the lower oblanceolate or spatulate, the upper linear, 1-nerved. 
Corymbs terminal, few-flowered. Corolla light purple to white, the 
lobes much shorter than the tube. Capsule compressed-globose, 
nearly as long as the calyx. In dry, open woods.* 
