Bluestars carry the name of John Amson, a Williamsburg physician of the mid eighteenth century, and one species carries the name of Leslie Hubricht, a self-taught naturalist who found the plant in Garland County, Arkansas in 1942 while chiefly hunting land snails. Amsonia hubrichtii went on to be named Perennial Plant of the Year in 2011 and now turns up in half the good public plantings in the country, which is a fair return on a snail expedition.

The flowers are pale steel blue, borne in soft terminal clusters in mid spring, and pretty in an understated way. The foliage is the real reason to grow the plants. Amsonia hubrichtii carries needle-fine leaves that make a knee-high cloud all summer and then turn pure gold in autumn, holding that color for weeks; Amsonia tabernaemontana is broader-leaved and better in part shade. Long-lived, deer-proof, and entirely undemanding in ordinary soil and sun. Cut them back by a third after flowering if a clump wants tightening, and otherwise leave them alone.