|  back  | forward |

Houstonia purpurea - (image 1 of 4)

Taxonomy

Family: Rubiaceae

Habitat

Rocky woods and hillsides.

Associates

Distribution

NJ to IA, south to GA, MS, and TX.

Morphology

Herbaceous perennial from a fibrous-rooted base; stems several, simple or branched above, 15-50 cm, villous, especially below, to glabrous; leaves sessile, ovate to lance-oblong, 2-5 cm long and 0.5-3 cm wide, rounded to subcordate at the base, 3-5-nerved; flowers on short-pedicels, numerous in terminal cymes, heterostylic; sepals lanceolate, 1.7-6.5 mm at anthesis, sometimes ciliate; corolla purple to nearly white, hairy within, funnelform, 5.5-9.5 mm; corolla lobes half as long as the tube; stamens included or barely exserted; fruit globose or depressed-globose, half-inferior, 2.5-3.5 mm.

Notes

Flowers May to July

Wetland indicator: NA

Similar to H. longifolia but with wider leaves (more than 5 mm) that are more rounded or subcordate at the base (vs. tapered or narrowed at the base) and sepals often more than 2 mm long (vs. 1-2 mm).

References

Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY

Home