VIOLET FAMILY 



VIOLACE.E VIOLET FAMILY 



Viola pattens, (Banks) Brainerd. 



Whitish 



Sweet White Violet. 



May-August 



Viola: for derivation, see lanceolata. 

 Pattens: Latin for pale. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: sphagnum bogs. 



THE PLANT: erect, four to six inches high; the flower stem 

 often with scattered hairs, sometimes dotted with red. 



THE LEAVES: basal; heart-shaped; obtuse at the apex, or 

 rarely acute; petioled, the stems often with scattered hairs 

 and sometimes dotted with red. 



THE FLOWERS : small ; some of the petals usually bearing a 

 small tuft of hairs. 



THE FRUIT: a capsule. 



Mr. Bicknell says, in speaking of the plant, "a form of 

 distinct appearance was found in several wet sphagnum 

 bogs, especially in one near Shawkemmo Spring. It is 

 strictly glabrous throughout. The scapes and petioles 

 delicately streaked "with pink. The leaf blades unusually 

 thick and veiny, becoming as large as 5 cm. in breadth, 

 (almost 2 in.) and varying in shape from long-ovate and 

 deeply cordate to broadly cordate-reniform (heart-kidney- 

 shaped). The petioles sometimes 9 cm. (about 6 in.) 

 long, longer peduncles 1 to 5 dm. (9 in.) capsules green, 

 seeds 1 mm. long or more (^ in.), dark grey to nearly 

 black when mature. Dr. Brainerd who has examined 

 specimens regards it as a form of Viola pattens. 



Viola blanda (Willd) which proves to be common on 

 Martha's Vineyard is to be looked for on Nantucket." 



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