IOO HOUSTONIA C/ERULEA. BLUETS. 



shows that in the long-styled form the pistil is stronger than in 

 the short-styled one. 



There are some facts connected with the distribution of our 

 little Bluet which are also very interesting to the student. 

 While in some districts the plant seems to exist in great pro- 

 fusion, it is sometimes totally absent in contiguous districts in 

 which the circumstances may seem quite as favorable as else- 

 where. Willis, in his " Catalogue of the Flora of New Jersey," 

 gives only one locality for it in that State, namely, near Camden ; 

 while, on the other side of the Delaware River, it seems every- 

 where abundant. A correspondent of the " Bulletin of the Tor- 

 rey Botanical Club, ,, however, says it is also abundant in New 

 Jersey, along the Passaic River, near Newark. The same maga- 

 zine notices that in the State of New York it may be abundant 

 in some counties, and wanting in others near by. The causes 

 of unequal distribution are worth investigating. With the facts 

 we have given of its irregular distribution, it is not quite clear 

 what its general geographical range may be. Prof. Wood gives 

 it as " found in most grounds, fields, and roadsides, Canada and 

 the United States"; and Dr. Chapman says, "Moist banks, 

 Florida to Mississippi and northward." There is no record, 

 however, of its being found in Michigan, and it is quite likely to 

 be rare in some other States included in the general scope 

 named by the authors above quoted. 



EXPLANATION of the Plate. — I. A complete plant, with barren shoots, half-mature seed- 

 vessel, and flowers. — 2. Half section of a narrow-tubed corolla, showing the stamens 

 near the mouth. — 3. Half section of a thick-tubed flower, with the stamens low down 

 from the mouth. 



