VIOLET FAMILY 



VIOLACE^E VIOLET FAMILY 



Viola pedata, L. 



Lilac-purple Bird's Foot Violet, 



Crowfoot Violet, 



May-June Velvets, 



Sand Violet, 

 Wood-violet. 



Viola: for derivation see lanceolata. 

 Pedata: Latin denoting footed. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: dry, sandy soil of the Commons, 

 frequently in gravelly roadways. 



THE PLANT: erect, or spreading, three inches to ten inches 

 high. 



THE LEAVES: basal; dull pale green; three to five divided, 

 three of which divisions are again cut and toothed, so that 

 the average leaf has nine or more distinct divisions; the 

 divisions linear to spatulate. 



THE FLOWERS: large in proportion to the size of the 

 plant; the five petals often an inch long, the lower spurred 

 petal grooved and partly white, veined with violet; the 

 throat of the flower filled with the anthers and the style, 

 which are conspicuously orange. Albinos have been found. 



THE FRUIT: a capsule. 



Without question, the most beautiful violet on Nan- 

 tucket! In the spring, whole sheets of white chickweed 

 cover the Commons, together with the Bird's Foot Violet, 

 (so called from the shape of the pale green compound 

 leaves). The flowers are light blue or lilac and have a 

 striking splash of deep orange at the throat. 



Five other members of the Violet Family have been re- 

 ported. 



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