VOL. X, PP. 85-92 MAY 26, 1896 



PROCEEDINGS 



OF THB 



BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON 



THE PURPLE-FLOWERED, STEMLESS VIOLETS OF 

 THE ATLANTIC COAST* 



BY CHARLES LOUIS POLLARD, 



The acaulescent species of the genus Viola constitute a most 

 perplexing natural group, and are very baffling to one who at 

 tempts, as I have attempted during the last five years, to discover 

 satisfactory and constant characters on which to base a specific 

 arrangement. While herbarium specimens of these plants are 

 quite adequate for morphological study, it has been found that 

 habit and habitat are of the utmost importance in respect to 

 specific relationship, as is also the degree of variation under 

 changed conditions of environment. I have therefore supple 

 mented a close and searching series of field observations during 

 the past few seasons by a study of many different forms under 

 cultivation, noting the behavior, for example, of two plants from 

 the same patch,' one grown in sandy soil, with full exposure to 

 the sun, and the other in damp, rich soil in a shaded situation. 

 A residence of several successive seasons in one neighborhood 

 afforded an opportunity of observing whether a given specimen 

 set out in one summer presented marked leaf variation in the 

 next. 



The result of these investigations proves, I think, conclusively, 

 that while several of these violets are extremely polymorphous, 

 the species themselves do not intergrade to the extent generally 

 believed. The difficulty has arisen in some cases by a confusion 

 of the earlier types by writers at the beginning of this century ; 



* Read before a meeting of the Society held May 2, 1896. 



14-Bioi.. Soc. WASH., Voi,. X, 1896 (85) 



