FAMILIES OF FLOWEKING PLANTS 



183 



ral groups which have been by some authors advanced to generic rank. 

 For example, we have in America the beautiful bird's-foot violets, which 

 are distinguished by their finely divided foliage, very short and trun- 

 cate rootstocks, and the large beakless stigma. This includes the 

 handsome prairie violet of the West, and the striking pansy violet so 

 common in Maryland and Virginia but rare elsewhere. In general the 

 genus may be roughly separated into two divisions: those with leafy 

 stems, and those which are scapose, i. e., in which the leaves and flow- 

 ers seem to spring directly from the root. In Fig. 162 we have repre- 

 sentatives of several of these types displayed. 



The pansy ( V. tricolor) has been for so long a time in cultivation that 

 the range of color and markings is wonderful. These markings are aj)t 



Pig. 163. Flowering branch of Casearia sylvestHs, with detached enlarged flower of C, lomeniaa. 

 Redrawn from Engler. 



to assume certain definite patterns, so that horticulturalists speak of 

 the various " strains " of the pansy. The foliage is quite distinctive on 

 account of the large stipules. In this country we have only one mem- 

 ber of the group, the little annual white violet ( K Rafiyiesquii), but in 

 Europe a large number of species closely related to V. tricolor have 

 been described. 



The perfume of the violet has always been highly esteemed, and is 

 most prominent in the cultivated forms of V. odorata, although some of 

 our native species are faintly sweet-scented. 



