4. Hudsonia Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. ed. 12. 2: 323, 327. 1767; Mant. Pl., 1: 74. 1767.
[E]
[For William Hudson, 1730–1793, English botanist] [For William Hudson, 1730–1793, English botanist]
John L. Strother
Shrubs, <evergreen, sometimes forming clumps wider than high>, 0.5–2(–4) dm. Leaves alternate, sessile; blade 1-veined from base, <acerose to subulate or scalelike>, margins sometimes ± revolute, <surfaces glabrescent or hairy, hairs usually simple, not stellate>. Inflorescences solitary flowers. Pedicels present or absent; bracts present or absent Flowers chasmogamous; sepals <persistent or tardily falling>, 5; petals 5, usually yellow, sometimes white; stamens 8–30+; <filaments distinct or bases weakly connate>; carpels 3; styles 1; stigmas 1, <minutely 3-toothed>. Capsules 3-valved. Seeds 3–6 per capsule. x = 10.
Species 3 (3 in the flora): North America.
Species of Hudsonia are wiry shrubs or shrublets with crowded, acerose to subulate, or scalelike, leaves and the aspect of diminutive gymnosperms or overgrown mosses; they sometimes form relatively extensive stands.
SELECTED REFERENCES Morse, L. E. 1979. Systematics and Ecological Biogeography of the Genus Hudsonia (Cistaceae), the Sand Heaths. Ph.D. dissertation. Harvard University. Skog, J. E. and N. H. Nickerson. 1972. Variation and speciation in the genus Hudsonia. Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 59: 454–464.
