Houstonia (plant)

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Houstonia
Bluets (Houstonia caerulea) Hedyotis caerulea.jpg
Houstonia caerulea
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Gentianales
Family: Rubiaceae
Subfamily: Rubioideae
Tribe: Spermacoceae
Genus: Houstonia
L.
Synonyms [1]
  • Poiretia J.F.Gmel. non Vent.
  • Panetos Raf.
  • Chamisme Nieuwl.

Houstonia (bluet) is a genus of plants in the family Rubiaceae. Many species were formerly classified, along with other genera since segregated elsewhere, in a more inclusive genus Hedyotis .

Bluets are often small and delicate. For example, H. rosea may grow only one inch tall. Some species are single stemmed and others have multiple stems in bunches. Flowers are blue, purple, lavender, white, or rose, often with shades of one color present in an individual population. Flowers have 4 sepals, colloquially denominated "petals", a salverform corolla with 4 lobes, and an inferior ovary. Some species exhibit heterostyly. The fruit is an often roughly cordate capsule enclosing many seeds and which usually dehisces via a suture across its apex.

Houstonia consists of 20 species native to North America. [2] Another 5 species are classified in the genus Stenaria ; Houstonia without Stenaria is paraphyletic. [3] Close relatives of the genus are Oldenlandia microtheca and, more distantly, Arcytophyllum . [4]

Its members superficially resembles species of the genus Myosotis (Forget-me-nots), but are distinguished from the latter by having only 4 sepals (petals) instead of 5.

Species

Species accepted as of May 2014 are: [5]

  1. Houstonia acerosa (A.Gray) Benth. & Hook.f.: Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, and San Luis Potosí and Texas and New Mexico, United States
  2. Houstonia biloba Raf.
  3. Houstonia caerulea L. (azure bluet): eastern Canada and eastern United States
  4. Houstonia canadensis Willd. ex Roem. & Schult. (Canadian summer bluet): Ontario and Saskatchewan, Canada and eastern United States
  5. Houstonia cervantesii Terrell
  6. Houstonia chlorantha Bertol.
  7. Houstonia correllii (W.H.Lewis) Terrell (Correll's bluet): Texas, United States
  8. Houstonia croftiae Britton & Rusby (Croft's bluet): Texas, United States
  9. Houstonia humifusa (Engelm. ex A.Gray) A.Gray (matted bluet): New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, United States
  10. Houstonia longifolia Gaertn. (longleaf summer bluet): eastern and central United States and central Canada
  11. Houstonia micrantha (Shinners) Terrell (southern bluet): central and southeastern United States
  12. Houstonia nuttalliana Fosberg
  13. Houstonia ochroleuca Raf.
  14. Houstonia ouachitana (E.B.Sm.) Terrell (Ouachita bluet): Arkansas and Oklahoma, United States
  15. Houstonia palmeri A.Gray: Coahuila and Nuevo León
  16. Houstonia parviflora Holz. ex Greenm. (Greenman's bluet): Texas, United States
  17. Houstonia procumbens (J.F.Gmel.) Standl. (roundleaf bluet): Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, United States
  18. Houstonia prostata Brandegee
  19. Houstonia purpurea L. (Venus' pride): eastern and central United States
  20. Houstonia pusilla Schöpf (tiny bluet): central and southeastern United States and Arizona, United States
  21. Houstonia reticulata Raf.
  22. Houstonia rosea (Raf.) Terrell (rose bluet): south-central United States
  23. Houstonia rubra Cav. (red bluet): northern and central Mexico as far south as Puebla and Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah, United States
  24. Houstonia serpyllifolia Michx. (creeping, mountain, thymeleaft, and Appalachian bluet): Appalachian Mountains from Pennsylvania to Georgia, United States
  25. Houstonia sharpii Terrell: Hidalgo and Veracruz
  26. Houstonia spellenbergii (G.L.Nesom & Vorobik) Terrell: Chihuahua
  27. Houstonia subviscosa (C.Wright ex A.Gray) A.Gray (nodding bluet): Texas, United States
  28. Houstonia teretifolia Terrell: Coahuila
  29. Houstonia wrightii A.Gray (pygmy bluet): Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, United States and Mexico

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Gaillardia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, native to North and South America. It was named after Maître Gaillard de Charentonneau, an 18th-century French magistrate who was an enthusiastic botanist. The common name may refer to the resemblance of the inflorescence to the brightly patterned blankets made by Native Americans, or to the ability of wild taxa to blanket the ground with colonies. Many cultivars have been bred for ornamental use.

<i>Helianthus</i> Genus of flowering plants, the sunflowers

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<i>Helenium</i> Genus of flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae

Helenium is a genus of annuals and herbaceous perennial plants in the family Asteraceae, native to the Americas.

<i>Bouteloua</i> Genus of grasses

Bouteloua is a genus of plants in the grass family. Members of the genus are commonly known as grama grass.

<i>Amsonia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Amsonia is a genus of flowering plants in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1788. It is native primarily to North America with one species in East Asia and another in the eastern Mediterranean. It was named in honor of the American physician John Amson. Members of the genus are commonly known as bluestars.

  1. Amsonia ciliataWalter – fringed bluestar – SE US, S Great Plains
  2. Amsonia elliptica(Thunb. ex Murray) Roem. & Schult. – Japanese bluestar – China, Japan, Korea
  3. Amsonia fugateiS.P.McLaughlin – San Antonio bluestar – New Mexico
  4. Amsonia grandifloraAlexander – Arizona bluestar – Arizona, Sonora, Durango
  5. Amsonia hubrichtiiWoodson – Hubricht's bluestar – Arkansas, Oklahoma
  6. Amsonia illustrisWoodson – Ozark bluestar – Mississippi Valley, also Nevada
  7. Amsonia jonesiiWoodson – Jones' bluestar – Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado
  8. Amsonia kearneyanaWoodson – Kearney's bluestar – Baboquivari in Pima Co. in Arizona
  9. Amsonia longifloraTorr. – tubular bluestar – Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Coahuila
  10. Amsonia ludovicianaVail – Louisiana bluestar – Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia
  11. Amsonia orientalisDecne. – European bluestar – Greece, Turkey
  12. Amsonia palmeriA.Gray – Palmer's bluestar – Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Sonora, Chihuahua
  13. Amsonia peeblesiiWoodson – Peebles' bluestar – Arizona
  14. Amsonia repensShinners – creeping bluestar – E Texas, SW Louisiana
  15. Amsonia rigidaShuttlw. ex Small – stiff bluestar – from Georgia to Louisiana
  16. Amsonia tabernaemontanaWalter – eastern bluestar – S + C + E United States
  17. Amsonia tharpiiWoodson – feltleaf bluestar – W Texas, SE New Mexico
  18. Amsonia tomentosaTorr. & Frém. – woolly bluestar – SW US; Chihuahua
<i>Houstonia caerulea</i> Species of plant

Houstonia caerulea, commonly known as azure bluet, Quaker ladies, or bluets, is a perennial species in the family Rubiaceae. It is native to eastern Canada and the eastern United States. It is found in a variety of habitats such as cliffs, alpine zones, forests, meadows and shores of rivers or lakes.

<i>Oldenlandiopsis</i> Genus of flowering plants

Oldenlandiopsis (creeping-bluet) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is monospecific, comprising only one species, Oldenlandiopsis callitrichoides. This species had previously been placed in Hedyotis or in Oldenlandia. It is native to the West Indies, southern Mexico, and Central America. It is naturalized elsewhere, including Florida, Hawaii, South America, and tropical Africa.

<i>Hedeoma</i> Genus of flowering plants

Hedeoma is a genus of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is native to North and South America. They are commonly known as false pennyroyals.

<i>Muhlenbergia</i> Genus of plants

Muhlenbergia is a genus of plants in the grass family.

<i>Hymenothrix</i> Genus of flowering plants

Hymenothrix is a small genus of North American flowering plants in the daisy family known as thimbleheads. They are native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.

<i>Ratibida</i> Genus of flowering plants

Ratibida is a genus of North American plants in the tribe Heliantheae within the family Asteraceae. Members of the genus are commonly known as prairie coneflowers or mexican-hat.

<i>Amoreuxia</i> Genus of flowering plants

Amoreuxia is a genus of flowering plants in the achiote family, Bixaceae. It was formerly placed in the family Cochlospermaceae. Members of the genus are commonly known as yellowshow. They are native to Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Peru, Curaçao, and the southwestern United States.

  1. Amoreuxia gonzaleziiSprague & L.Riley – Santa Rita Mountain yellowshow - Sonora, Sinaloa, Jalisco, southern Arizona
  2. Amoreuxia malvifoliaA.Gray - Chihuahua, Durango
  3. Amoreuxia palmatifidaMoc. & Sessé ex DC. – Mexican yellowshow - Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Arizona, New Mexico
  4. Amoreuxia wrightiiA.Gray – Wright's yellowshow - Curaçao, Peru, Chihuahua, Durango, Coahuila, Nuevo León, San Luis Potosí, Tamaulipas, Campeche, Yucatán, Quintana Roo, Campeche, Texas

Houstonia acerosa, the New Mexico bluet or needleleaf bluet, is a plant species native to Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Texas and New Mexico.

Houstonia palmeri, the Saltillo bluet, is a plant species in the family Rubiaceae, native to the Mexican states of Coahuila and Nuevo León.

<i>Houstonia humifusa</i> Species of plant

Houstonia humifusa, commonly called matted bluet, is a plant species in the coffee family (Rubiaceae). It is native to the United States, where it is found in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. It is typically found in sandy areas, or sometimes over gypsum.

<i>Houstonia micrantha</i> Species of plant

Houstonia micrantha, the southern bluet, is a plant species in the coffee family.

Houstonia rosea, the rose bluet, is a North American plant species in the coffee family. It is a tiny plant only a few centimeters tall, with pink flowers. It is native to the south-central United States: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and southern Missouri.

<i>Houstonia rubra</i> Species of plant

Houstonia rubra, the red bluet, is a plant species in the Rubiaceae. It is a small herb with white to pink to red to reddish-purple flowers, native to the southwestern United States and northern and central Mexico: Coahuila, Nuevo León, Hidalgo, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Puebla, Sonora, Durango, Chihuahua, Arizona, New Mexico, southeastern Utah and western Texas.

<i>Houstonia serpyllifolia</i> Species of plant

Houstonia serpyllifolia, commonly called thymeleaf bluet, creeping bluet, mountain bluet, Appalachian bluet or Michaux's bluets is a species of plant in the coffee family (Rubiaceae). It is native to the eastern United States, where it is found in the central and southern Appalachian Mountains. It has been documented in the states of Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, western Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, and northeastern Georgia.

<i>Houstonia wrightii</i> Species of plant

Houstonia wrightii, the pygmy bluet, is a plant species in the Rubiaceae. It is native to the south-western United States and northern Mexico.

References

  1. "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families".
  2. Edward E. Terrell (10 June 1996), "Revision of Houstonia (Rubiaceae-Hedyotideae)", Systematic Botany Monographs, 48, American Society of Plant Taxonomists: 1–118, doi:10.2307/25027862, JSTOR   25027862
  3. Sheri A. Church; Douglas R. Taylor (2005), "Speciation and Hybridization among Houstonia (Rubiaceae) Species: The Influence of Polyploidy on Reticulate Evolution", American Journal of Botany, 92 (8): 1372–80, doi:10.3732/ajb.92.8.1372, PMID   21646157
  4. Groeninckx, I.; Dessein, S.; Ochoterena, H.; Persson, C.; Motley, T.J.; Kårehed, J.; Bremer, B.; Huysmans, S.; Smets, E. (2009). "Phylogeny of the Herbaceous Tribe Spermacoceae (Rubiaceae) Based on Plastid DNA Data". Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden. 96 (1): 109–32. doi:10.3417/2006201. S2CID   56042261.
  5. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families [ permanent dead link ]

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