[Illustration: SMALL BLUET LEAST BLUET]
Leaves opposite or whorled; in ours, sepals and petals usually 4, but
may be 4-10, calyx joining ovary wall; stamens 4-10, on corolla-tube;
ovary inferior, 2-5-celled.
Small Bluet (_Houstonia patens_) has violet-blue flowers which are among
the first blossoms of spring. They dot golf courses and sandy meadows
from Texas to Virginia and Illinois in February and March. The bluets
are also called innocence and angel-eyes.
Least Bluet (_Houstonia minima_) is a smaller plant than the small
bluet, but the flowers are a little larger and are pale pink. They bloom
at the same time of year and may often be found together. The least
bluet ranges from Texas to Illinois and Kansas.
The madder-family is mainly tropical but is represented in Texas by
nearly forty species. Nearly all of these have inconspicuous, 4-lobed
white flowers and include many bedstraws and bluets, the button-weed,
and button-bush. From some members of the family valuable commercial
products—coffee, quinine, and a red dye—are obtained; the cape-jasmine
or gardenia is a well-known ornamental plant.
[Illustration: BOUVARDIA BABY’S BREATH]
Baby’s Breath. Narrow-Leaved Houstonia (_Houstonia angustifolia_) is not
the garden plant (_Gypsophila paniculata_) which is known as baby’s
breath, but it is equally dainty. The stems grow from woody perennial
roots and form erect clumps about a foot high. The small flowers are
borne in flat-topped clusters and vary in color from white to pale pink
or lavender. This plant is widely distributed on prairies from Illinois
to Texas and Florida.
Bouvardia (_Bouvardia ternifolia_) is a low shrub, 2-6 ft. high, which
grows in the mountains west of the Pecos River to Arizona and Mexico.
The leaves are short and grow in whorls of 3’s or 4’s. The narrow, red
tubular flowers are about one inch long. The Bouvardias were once
popular as greenhouse plants but are little used now. This one was
introduced into England more than one hundred years ago.