MADDER FAMILY RUBIACEAE 
LONG-LEAVED BLUETS 
Houstonia longifolia Gaertn. 
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Several kinds of Bluets occur in I]linois. This one, whose leaves 
are really no longer than those of some others, grows in dry open 
places from Maine to Saskatchewan and south to Georgia and 
Missouri. It is a small, us- 
ually tufted perennial with 
nearly smooth stems that 
grow 5-10 inches high. The 
basal leaves are linear, I- 
nerved and sessile. 
The little pale purple or 
nearly white flowers are 
produced from May to 
September in loose clusters 
at the ends of the branches. 
The calyx is tubular and 
has 4 narrow lobes. The 
corolla is funnel shaped and 
also 4-lobed. Four short 
stamens are inserted on the 
throat of the corolla. The 
pistil consists of a 2-celled 
ovary, a slender style and 2 
narrow stigmas. The fruit 
is a slightly compressed 
globose-ovoid capsule about 
one-twelfth of an inch in 
diameter and only partly 
enclosed by the calyx. 
The Common Bluets or Innocence, Hous- 
tonia coerulea L., is usually the commonest 
species in most grassy places or on wet rocks. 
It grows 3-7 inches high and spreads by slender underground stems, 
forming dense tufts or mats. The leaves, one-half inch long, are simi- 
lar to those of the Long-leaved Bluets. The delicate little flowers are 
produced from early spring until midsummer and are light blue, pale 
lilac or nearly white with a yellowish center, up to one-half inch broad 
and with the slender tube approximately the length of the lobes. 
This perennial is found from Nova Scotia to Ontario and Wisconsin, 
south through Georgia to Albama. 
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