Venus’ Pride – Native Plant of the Day 12/07/2023
Photo from 06/07/2013. Location: Ascalon Road, Walker County, GA.
More photos / info at the Houstonia purpurea detail page.
Venus’ Pride – Houstonia purpurea
Also NPOD 12/20/2013, 12/20/2014, 12/20/2015, 12/20/2016, 12/15/2017, 12/15/2018, 12/07/2019, 12/07/2020, 12/07/2021, 12/07/2022
Is Venus’ Pride ever just white? Some I saw blooming today 6/2/20) in Sipsey Wilderness seemed pure white. New flower to me so wondering if they’re always purpurea, or a range of color
The flowers of Houstonia purpurea are white to purple or lavender.
I have Houstonia purpurea growing in my pasture in the Smokey Mountains fo North Carolina outside of Asheville. It says they are considered endangered in NC. Would anyone be interested and whom would I contact to let them know?
Thanks Jerry.
Charlie
Thanks for your comment, Charlie.
Note that it’s only var. montana that is endangered – Roan Mountain Bluet. According to Weakley’s Flora, Roan Mountain Bluet has larger calyx lobes, corolla, capsules, and seeds than var. purpurea. Also the corolla of the Roan Mountain variety, according to Weakley, is deep purple rather than light purple to white, the leaves are shorter (rarely more than an inch long), and the plant is more glabrous than var. purpurea. It’s habitat is primarily near the summits of mountains above about 4,000′.
It appears that many authorities consider this to be a separate species and classify it as Houstonia montana rather than Houstonia purpurea var. purpurea.
If you think you have Roan Mountain Bluet, the North Carolina Native Plant Society might be interested. They can be contacted at https://ncwildflower.org/contact/. I’d also appreciate it if you’d comment back here again. Thanks.