698

Forb
Perennial

Native to North Carolina

Documented growing wild in - NC -

Rare, endemic to the high Blue Ridge of nw. NC & ne. TN

Look for it in crevices of rock outcrops at summits of high elevation peaks of Southern Blue Ridge, also in thin frost-heaved gravelly soils of grassy balds near summit outcrops, from 1250-1950m in elevation, per Weakley's Flora

To see a detailed map, click here

 

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

FLOWER:
Summer
Purple
Bisexual
Radially symmetrical
4 sepals
4-lobed funnelform corolla
4 included stamens

FRUIT:
Summer
Capsule

 

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

• Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers p122?
• Guide to the Wildflowers of SC p192?
• Newcomb's Wildflower Guide p158?
• Wild Flowers of NC, 1st edition p179?
• Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition p237
• Wildflowers of Tennessee p264
• Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians p306
• Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains p165

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

WEAKLEY'S FLORA (11/30/12):
Houstonia montana   FAMILY Rubiaceae

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

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

SYNONYMOUS WITH -
Hedyotis purpurea var. montana