QUAKERLADIES 



Houstonia caerulea Linnaeus 



Quakerladies, sometimes called bluets and innocence, are among 

 our earliest spring flowers, and delight flower lovers by their dainty- 

 growth and faint, sweet odor. Occurring plentifully in moist meadows 

 and wayside places, they sometimes completely carpet the ground. They 

 may be gathered freely, without^fear of extermination. They continue 

 blooming into early summer, and frequently put forth a second bloom 

 in late fall. No wildflower garden would be complete without them, 

 a rather sterile and acid soil and a fair amount of sunshine being all that 

 they ask. 



Linnaeus named this plant in honor of Dr. William Houston, a 

 young English botanist, who died in South America after an exhaust- 

 ing collecting trip around the Gulf of Mexico in 173 3. 



Quakerladies are widely distributed, being found from Georgia and 

 Alabama northward to eastern Canada and Michigan. 



The plant sketched grew at Washington, District of Columbia. 



plate 59 



