Madder Family (Rublaceæ)
(A) Bluets; Innocence (Houstonia cærulea). These are very dainty and beautiful little plants that decorate our fields profusely from April until July. The stems are very slender, about 3 to 6 inches tall, and have a few pairs of tiny leaves; larger leaves appear in tufts from the base. The perianth is slender and the lobes flare widely; the corolla is about one half inch in width, white, with the ends of the lobes pale blue or violet, and stained with yellow toward the centre of the flower.
(B) Partridgeberry (Mitchella repens) is a most beautiful little trailing vine with rounded, opposite, white-veined leaves along the creeping stem, that extends 6 to 12 inches from the root. Two beautiful little four-parted, bell-shaped flowers terminate each branch. They are downy white within, and pinkish and smooth on the outside. They have a fragrance similar to that of the Water Lily. A double red berry replaces the flowers in fall. It is common in woods throughout our range.