RUBIACE.E. (madder FAMILY.) 223 



the top. Seeds ratlier few (4-20 iu each cell), peltate and saucer-shaped or 

 globular-tliimhle-shaped, pitted. — Small lierhs, wiili .sliort entire stipules con- 

 necting the j)etioles or narrowed bases of the leaves, and cyinose or soliuirv and 

 peduncled Howcrs. 'I'hese are dimorphous, in some individuals with ex.serted 

 anthers and short includeil stvle; in others the anthers included and the stvle 

 long, the stigmas therefore protruding. (Named for Dr. Win. Iloustun, an 

 English botanist who collected in Central America.) 



* ,Sin(ill and delicate, vprmd-Jlowering ; peduncles \-Jiowered ; corolla salrer- 



form ; upper half of the broad and somewhat 2-lohcd pod free ; seeds globu- 

 lar, icith a very deep round cavity occupying the inner face. 



■(- Perennial by delicate Jili form creeping rootstocks or creeping stems ; peduncles 

 filiform, 1-2' long. 



1. H. CBBrulea, L. (Bluets. Innocence.) Glabrous; .s/ewse/er^, slen- 

 der, sparingly branched from the base (3-5' high) ; leaves oblong-spatulate (3- 

 4" long) ; peduncle filiform, erect ; corolla light blue, pale lilac or nearlv white 

 with a yellowish eye, with tube much longer than its lobes or than those (»f the 

 calyx. — Moist and grassy places, N. Eng. to Ga., west to Mich, and Ala. ; pro 

 ducing from early spring to midsummer its delicate little Howcrs. 



2. H. serpyllifolia, Michx. Like the last, but filiform stems prostrate, 

 extensively creeping and rooting; leaves orbicular to orate (2-4" long); co- 

 rolla rather larger, and deep violet-blue. — Along streamlets and on mouiitain- 

 tops, Va. to Teun. and S. C. 



-t- ■*- Winter-annuals, branching from the simple root; peduncles much shorter. 



3. H. patens, Ell. An inch to at length a span high, with ascending 

 branches and erect peduncles ; leaves spatulate to ovate ; corolla much smaller 

 than that of n. 1, violet-blue or purjdish witliout yellowish eye, the tube longer 

 than its lobes, twice the length of the calyx-lobes. — Dry or sandv soil, S. Va. to 

 Tex. and 111. (?) 



4. H. minima, Beck. Morediiin^e, com nvmly scabrous; stems at length 

 much branclied and s])reading (1-4' high) ; lowest leaves ovate or spatulate, 

 the upper oblong or nearly linear; earlier ])eduncles elongated and spreading 

 in fruit, the later ones short ; tube of the })urj)lish corolla not longer than its lobes 

 or the ample calyx-lobes (H" long). — Dry hills, Mo. to Tex. March -May. 



* * Erect, mostly perennial herbs (6 - 20' high), with stem-leaves sessile, and flow- 



ers in small terminal cymes or clusters ; corolla funnel-form, }mr})lish, of en 

 hairy inside : .seeds meiiiscoidal , with a ridge across the hollowed inner face. 



5. H. purpurea, L. Pubescent or smo<Uh (8-15' high); leaves vary 

 ing from roundish-ovate to lanceolate, 3-5-ribbed ; calyx-lobes longer than the 

 half-free globular pod. — Woodlands, Md. to Ark., and southward. May - July. 

 — Varying wonderfully, as into — 



Var. ciliol^ta, Gray. A span high ; leaves only \' long, thickish ; cauline 

 oblong-spatulate; radical oval or oblong, rosulate, hirsute-ciliate ; calyx-h)bes 

 a little longer tlian the pod. — Rocky l»anks. from the Great Lakes and Minn, 

 to Ky. ; passing into 



Var. longifolia. Gray. A span or two high, mostly glabrous, thinner- 

 leaved ; leaves oblong-lanceolate to linear (6-20" long) ; radical oval or oblong. 



