houstonian.
/haʊˈstəʊnɪə/, /huːˈstəʊnɪə/, U.S. /ˌhaʊˈstoʊniə/, /ˌhuˈstoʊniə/ Any plant of the North American genus Houstonia (family Rubiaceae), comprising low-growing plants with delicate four-lobed flowers of various colours, and including the bluet, H. caerulea, commonly grown in gardens for its pale blue and yellow flowers. Also (in form Houstonia): the genus itself.The status of this genus is disputed; some authors include it in Hedyotis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > woodruff > allied flowers
woodruff1597
squinancy-wort1713
houstonia1764
quinsy wort1799
Venus's pride1845
bouvardia1846
Quaker ladies1871
1764 J. Hill Veg. Syst. VII. 36 (heading) Whitlow-weed. Houstonia.
1838 S. P. Hawthorne in N. Hawthorne & his Wife (1885) I. 187 Mother brought me some Houstonias in their own bit of earth.
1841–4 R. W. Emerson Nature in Wks. (1906) I. 225 The mimic waving of acres of houstonia, whose innumerable florets whiten and ripple before the eye.
1874 D. Wooster Alpine Flowers (ed. 2) 139 The species of Houstonia are not numerous. They are all pretty elegant little North American plants, very suitable for growing in pots.
1917 H. W. Faulkner Myst. Flowers iii. 53 We can best explain with some of the dainty little Houstonias in our hands.
1934 Emporia (Kansas) Gaz. 16 July 4/5 The houstonias grow in abundance in this county and prefer sterile, rocky soil.
2009 Bedford (Pa.) Gaz. 28 Apr. 9/5 Incidentally, other species of Houstonia, as well as the unrelated cornflower, are also called bluets.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1764