large bluets, Houstonia purpurea

This may be the largest of the bluets, up to a half meter high. Most of its fellow species are far shorter. This one was on a forest roadside, in a moderate rain. I had just passed what I suspect was the Appalachian Trail and wasn't going to stop just to say I had been on it. But the flowers got me, and here we have a reasonable image taken in that rain. The camera stayed dry. Large bluets, sometimes called Venus' pride, grow in AL, AR, CT, IA, IL, IN, KY, LA, MA, MD, ME, MI, MO, MS, NC, NE, NJ, NY, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, VT, and WV. Union Co GA, 7/6/18. Madder family, Rubiaceae.