Thyme-leaved Bluets

(Houstonia serpyllifolia)

 

   

 

Color Photograph: Copyright Nearctica.com, Inc.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Thyme-leaved Bluets (Houstonia serpyllifolia Michx.)

Identification: Flowers light blue, light violet, or white with a long, thin tubular corolla, 4 free petal lobes, and a yellow center. Stamens and pistil concealed inside the corolla. Flowers solitary or in pairs on the stem. Several stems usually arising from a base of prostrate runners. Leaves round, in opposite pairs, with a distinct petiole. Most leaves concentrated in a system of prostrate runners. Plant 4 to 10 inches in height

Distribution: Pennsylvania southward in the mountains to South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee.

Habitat: Thyme-leaved Bluets are usually found in upland forest.

Flowering period: May.

Similar Species: Bluets are similar. However Bluets lack the prostrate runners and the leaves are elongate-ovate, without a distinct petiole.

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