''Houstonia caerulea'', commonly known as azure bluet, Quaker ladies, or bluets,
is a
perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
species in the family
Rubiaceae
The Rubiaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with interpetiolar stipules ...
.
It is native to eastern
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
(
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
to
Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
) and the eastern
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
(
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
to
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
, south to
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
and
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
, with scattered populations in
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
). It is found in a variety of habitats such as cliffs, alpine zones, forests, meadows and shores of rivers or lakes.
Description
''Houstonia caerulea'' is a perennial herb
that produces showy flowers approximately across. These flowers are four-parted with pale blue petals and a yellow center. The foliage is a basal rosette with spatula-shaped leaves.
Stems are up to tall with one flower per stalk. Leaves are simple and opposite in arrangement with two leaves per node along the stem.
It thrives in moist acidic soils in shady areas, growing especially well among grasses.
[Scoggan, H. J. 1979. Dicotyledoneae (Loasaceae to Compositae). Part 4. 1117–1711 pp. In Flora of Canada. National Museums of Canada, Ottawa.]
Gallery
Image:Hoca4 001 lvd.jpg
Image:Houstonia caerulea 03.jpg
Image:Houstonia caerulea 02.jpg
Image:Houstonia caerulea.jpg
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Bluetgardening information
''Houstonia caerulea''photo
USDA PLANTS ProfileLadybird Johnson Wildflower Center
caerulea
''Caerulea'' is a genus of butterflies in the family Lycaenidae. It is a small genus with only two
species.
*'' Caerulea coeligena'' (Oberthür, 1876) western China, central China.
*'' Caerulea coelestis'' (Alphéraky, 1897) Tibet, western Chin ...
Ephemeral plants
Flora of Eastern Canada
Flora of the Northeastern United States
Flora of the North-Central United States
Flora of the Southeastern United States
Plants described in 1753
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
Flora without expected TNC conservation status
{{Rubioideae-stub