94 Rhodora [JUNE 
convinced that the weight of evidence sustains Prof. Greene’s con- 
clusions. Aiton’s statement regarding V. cucullata, that the lateral 
petals are longer than the spurred petal, is to me a strong indication 
that we have correctly identified his species. Schweinitz had a most 
distinct and accurate conception of the plant, but unfortunately re- 
garded it as V. obliqua Hill. LeConte used instead, for the very 
same plant, the far less ambiguous name of Aiton, V. cucullata; but 
he gave V. papilionacea only varietal rank, and separated from these 
his V. affinis with such hesitancy, as not to carry conviction. "Too 
near the preceding," (V. cucullata), he says, “I can find no distinctive 
characters except the shorter peduncles and the broader sepals." 
Yet he strangely overlooks a better mark of difference, expressly 
stated in his descriptions, that in V. cucullata the spurred petal is 
generally naked and glabrous, (superiore [petalo] ut plurimum nudo, 
glabro); while in V. affinis it is generally villous, (superiore ut pluri- 
mum villosa). After all, as Greene remarks, LeConte's drawing, 
still extant, is the best evidence as to what plant he had in mind. 
When, however, Torrey and Gray published the first fascicle of their 
North American Flora, in July, 1838, V. papilionacea and V. affinis 
were cited as mere synonyms of V. cucullata; and there the matter 
rested till recent years. How may we account for the wide divergence 
between this judgment and that of to-day? Is it not due largely to 
the fact that formerly this group of plants were studied only in their 
vernal state? The three species under discussion are small stemless 
herbs; in spring we see nothing above ground but half-grown leaves, 
and scapes bearing single flowers, all much alike. Only in late sum- 
mer are marked specific characters developed; then the mature leaves, 
the apetalous flowers, their peduncles, sepals, capsules and ripe seeds, 
all reveal striking differences. The plants in petaliferous flower 
furnished to the early botanists only vague, hardly definable hints of 
specific distinetness; even 'lorrey and Gray could see no notable 
differences. But when the growing plants are at hand in late sum- 
mer, a child can be taught to distinguish the species.’ 
© Viota soRoRIA Willd. was published in 1806 in the Hortus Beroli- 
ensis with a detailed description and an excellent plate (no. 72). It 
1 Dr. Gray in later years was doubtless influenced in the reduction of violet species 
by his knowledge of the numerous intergrading forms, that connect the extreme types 
of the cucullata-sagittata group. Whether he thought this due to recent interbreeding, 
or not, it would support his conception of a ** most polymorphous ” species, 
