Perennial herb with fibrous roots 10 - 30 cm tall
Leaves: opposite, stalkless, 1 - 3 cm long, 2 - 5 mm wide, broadly linear to narrowly oblong with a narrowed base, one-veined, hairless or nearly so.
Inflorescence: a terminal cluster (cyme) of many small flowers.
Flowers: short-stalked, purplish to white, 5.5 - 9 mm long, funnel-shaped, hairy within, with four lobes. The tube is twice as long as the lobes. Stamens included or barely exserted. Style one, stigmas two.
Fruit: a small, dehiscent capsule, 2.5 - 3.5 mm wide, more or less spherical.
Stems: numerous, slender, unbranched or branched above, sometimes finely hairy.
Similar species: Houstonia purpurea is similar but its lower leaves are three- to five-veined.
Flowering: May to July
Habitat and ecology: Local on limestone glades and gravelly sites. Typical of rocky woods, fields, and prairies in dry soil.
Occurence in the Chicago region: native
Etymology: Houstonia is named after Dr. William Houston (1695-1733), a Scottish-born surgeon and botanist who collected plants in Mexico and the West Indies. Longifolia means "long leaves."
Author: The Morton Arboretum
Stems numerous from a fibrous-rooted perennial base, simple or branched above, 1-2.5 dm, glabrous or finely hairy, especially at the nodes; lvs sessile, broadly linear to narrowly oblong, 10-30 נ2-5 mm, narrowed to the base, glabrous or nearly so, 1-nerved; fls short-pediceled, numerous in loose or crowded terminal cymes, heterostylic; sep lance-linear, 1-2 mm, in fr equaling or exceeding the capsule; cor purplish to white, hairy within, funnelform, 5.5-9 mm, the lobes half as long as the tube; stamens, frs and seeds of no. 1 [Hedyotis canadensis (Willd.) Fosberg]; 2n=12, 24. Dry, commonly gravely or sterile soil; Me. to Ont. and Sask., s. to S.C., Miss., and Ark. June-Aug. (Houstonia l.)
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Fibrous-rooted perennial 1.5-5 dm; stems diffusely branched, very slender, glabrous or minutely hairy on the angles; lvs linear, 1.5-4 cm נ1-3 mm, tapering to the base, 1-nerved, glabrous or nearly so; pedicels capillary, 5-15 mm; fls heterostylic; sep lance-linear, 1-2 mm at anthesis; cor purple, hairy within, funnelform, 5.5-7 mm, the lobes half as long as the tube; frs 1.8-2.8 mm, otherwise as in no. 1 [Hedyotis canadensis (Willd.) Fosberg]; stamens and seeds of no. 1. Dry soil; Pa. to Mo. and Okla., s. to Va., Ga., and Tex. May-July. (Houstonia tenuifolia)
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
