Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Gentianales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Houstonia montana
FAMILY
Rubiaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Roan Mountain Bluet at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Houstonia purpurea var. montana
FAMILY
Rubiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Houstonia purpurea var. montana
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Houstonia purpurea var. montana
INCLUDED WITHIN The Genera of Cinchonoideae (Rubiaceae) in the southeastern US (Rogers, 1987)
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 montana
SYNONYMOUS WITH -
Hedyotis purpurea var. montana
COMMON NAME:
Roan Mountain Bluet
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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JK Marlow jkm0407v_37
July Mitchell County NC
The Roan Highlands
Leaves ovate and shorter than H. purpurea, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Houstonia montana
FAMILY
Rubiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Houstonia purpurea var. montana
FAMILY
Rubiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Houstonia purpurea var. montana
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America (Kartesz, 1999)
Houstonia purpurea var. montana
INCLUDED WITHIN
The Genera of Cinchonoideae (Rubiaceae) in the southeastern US (Rogers, 1987)
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 montana
SYNONYMOUS WITH
-
Hedyotis purpurea var. montana
698
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: In crevices of rock outcrops at the summits of high elevation peaks of the Southern Blue Ridge, also in thin, frost-heaved, gravelly soils of grassy balds near summit outcrops, from 1250-1950 m in elevation, per Weakley's Flora
Native to North Carolina
Rare
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Opposite (basal leaves absent or withered at flowering)
Margins entire
FLOWER:
Summer
Purple
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!
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p122?
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p192?
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p158?
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p237
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p264
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p306
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p165
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".