NameThatPlant.net: Houstonia lanceolata

Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Gentianales

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Houstonia lanceolata FAMILY Rubiaceae Go to FSUS key

Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.

Read more about Lanceleaf Bluet at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Houstonia purpurea var. calycosa FAMILY Rubiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)

Houstonia purpurea var. calycosa

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)

Houstonia purpurea var. calycosa

INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of Vascular Plants of NE US & Adjacent Canada (Gleason & Cronquist,1991)

Hedyotis purpurea

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 173-08-005?:

Houstonia purpurea FAMILY Rubiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)

Houstonia lanceolata

SYNONYMOUS WITH -

Hedyotis purpurea var. calycosa

COMMON NAME:
Lanceleaf Bluet, Midwestern Summer Bluet, Glade Mountain Houstonia, Venus's Pride

To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.

image of Houstonia lanceolata, Lanceleaf Bluet, Midwestern Summer Bluet, Glade Mountain Houstonia, Venus's Pride

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_hola5_001_lvd

WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Houstonia lanceolata FAMILY Rubiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Houstonia purpurea var. calycosa FAMILY Rubiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Houstonia purpurea var. calycosa

SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Houstonia purpurea var. calycosa

INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of Vascular Plants of NE US & Adjacent Canada (Gleason & Cronquist,1991)
Hedyotis purpurea

INCLUDED WITHIN VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 173-08-005?:
Houstonia purpurea FAMILY Rubiaceae

SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Houstonia lanceolata

SYNONYMOUS WITH -
Hedyotis purpurea var. calycosa

2960

Forb
Perennial

Habitat: calcareous prairies and barrens, dry woodlands, banks, rock outcrops, shallow soils around mafic and calcareous rock outcrops, per Weakley's Flora

Native to North Carolina & Georgia

Rare

map
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.

Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)

LEAVES:
Simple
Opposite (basal leaves absent or withered at flowering)
Margins entire

FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Lavender/White
Radially symmetrical
4 sepals
4-lobed funnelform corolla
4 included stamens
Bisexual

FRUIT:
Summer
Capsule

TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!

"The following chronological synopsis of flora accounts of Microstegium is instructive: not treated by Small (1933), 'local' (Fernald 1950), 'rarely introduced and possibly not established' (Gleason & Cronquist 1952), 'sporadically naturalized' (Godfrey & Wooten 1979), 'a rapidly spreading pernicious invader on moist ground, too common' (Wofford 1989)... This species has become a very serious pest, now ranking as one of the most destructive introduced plants in our area, forming extensive and dense patches, sprawling over and eliminating nearly all other herbaceous plants. Eradication is very difficult, and considering its obvious colonizing abilities, only temporary." — Alan S. Weakley in Flora of the Southeastern US (2023)

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