MADDER FAMILY 



RUBIACEAE 



LONG-LEAVED BLUETS 



Houstonia longifolia Gaertn. 



Several kinds of Bluets occur in Illinois. 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-ov^oid 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-halt inch broad 

 and with the slender tube approximately the length ot the lobes. 

 This perennial is found from Nova Scotia to Ontario and Wisconsin, 

 south through Georgia to Albama. 



320 



