Thymeleaf Bluet
Houstonia serpyllifolia
Found in streambanks, grassy balds, moist forests, seepy rock outcrops, spray cliffs, and moist disturbed areas. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you
Native to West Virginia. How scores work Is it native here?
Profile 82%
- Height
- Up to about 4 inches
- Light
- Partial shade, Full sun
- Soil moisture
- Dry to wet
At a glance
- Life cycle
- Perennial
Not yet recorded · Spread · Leaves · Bloom
Bloom: NC species account not read yet.
Spread and leaves: no source found yet.
This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.
Recorded in 5 West Virginia counties.
Natural habitats
Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Streams, rivers and their banks
Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.
Treeless grassy or shrubby summits and ridges in the high mountains.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Cliffs, ledges and rocky summits
Cliffs, ledges, rock outcrops, talus and rocky summits where the source does not name the rock. A named rock files the place under its own glade or outcrop type instead.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Also found with this plant
Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in West Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 82 animals.
- American GoldfinchCarduelis tristis
- American KestrelFalco sparverius
- American RobinTurdus migratorius
- Chipping SparrowSpizella passerina
- Common NighthawkChordeiles minor
- Common RavenCorvus corax
- Cooper's HawkAccipiter cooperii
- Dark-eyed JuncoJunco hyemalis
- European StarlingSturnus vulgaris
- Great Horned OwlBubo virginianus
- Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalis
- Olive-sided FlycatcherContopus cooperi
- Purple FinchCarpodacus purpureus
- Red-tailed HawkButeo jamaicensis
- Sharp-shinned HawkAccipiter striatus
- Turkey VultureCathartes aura
- American CrowCorvus brachyrhynchos
- Baltimore OrioleIcterus galbula
- Belted KingfisherMegaceryle alcyon
- Black-and-White WarblerMniotilta varia
- Black-capped ChickadeePoecile atricapillus
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Black-throated Green WarblerDendroica virens
- Blackburnian WarblerDendroica fusca
Who uses this plant?
1CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV
Genus host records with ranges including WV · Houstonia
- Thyris maculataSpotted Thyris
13BeesSoutheastern regional records
Southeastern regional records · Houstonia
Individual names are not available yet.
Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
1Specialist beesPollen specialists
Pollen specialists · Houstonia
- Perdita pedernalensis
—BirdsRecorded genus food-resource interactions; not a state feeding claimNo records yet · Ants · Beetles · Flies · Adult butterflies / moths · Other wasps · Other insects
Plant details
- Family
- Rubiaceae
- Flower color
- Blue
Safety has not been reviewed for this plant; check toxicity and thorns before planting.
Growing sources and scope
- Flower color · “Blue” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Height · “Up to about 4 inches” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Life cycle · “Perennial” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Light · “Partial shade; Full sun (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
- primary_flower_color · “blue” · Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
- Soil · “Dry; Moist; Wet (documented habitat)” · Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition · Carolinas and Georgia
Also known as
Thyme Leaf Bluet
Conservation status
| West Virginia rank | S4 |
|---|---|
| Global rank | G4? |
| WV status | Not verified |
| Federal status | Not verified |
Will it fit your yard?
Check this plant against your county, sun and soil moisture. Conditions are checked in your browser.
Sources
- NatureServe Explorer
- USDA PLANTS
- Vascular Plants of North Carolina (NC Natural Heritage Program)
- Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Carolinas & Georgia edition
- West Virginia occurrence source
- Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)
- Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0
- Hurlbert, Olsen, Sawyer & Winner 2021, Avian Diet Database, Scientific Data 8: 260 (CC0)
- Narango, Tallamy & Shropshire 2020, Few keystone plant genera support the majority of Lepidoptera species, Nature Communications