VIOLA PEDATA. BIRDS-FOOT VIOLET. IO3 



beautiful crimson-purple of the pansy; and the reason why, 

 when it does change, it should change in this uniform way, is 

 worthy of the attention of the energetic student. There are 

 similar instances in other plants. Pure white varieties are also 

 very common in some districts, as noted by Prof. Thurber and 

 Dr. I. H. Hale, in the serial from which we have just quoted. 

 In the district from which our illustration was taken, Eastern 

 Pennsylvania, the chief variations are from whitish to purple, 

 and there are many shades between these. But the tendency to 

 vary, far from being confined to the color alone, also manifests 

 itself very markedly in the form of the petals. Some are very 

 broad, giving the flower a round-faced, jolly appearance, while 

 some are mere narrow straps, embodying the thoughtful and 

 careworn expression. There seems to be but little doubt that, in 

 the hands of some enterprising improver, the Bird's-Foot Vio- 

 let would give highly interesting results. It is remarkable that 

 the English florists, with their known watchfulness, have done 

 nothing in a field so inviting, for the plant has been in their 

 hands since 1759, in which year it was enumerated by Philip 

 Miller as being in the Apothecaries' Garden, at Chelsea, near 

 London, to which it was probably sent by John Bartram, from 

 Philadelphia, with whom Miller commenced exchanging plants 

 in 1755. But perhaps the European florists are so well satisfied 

 with the pansy, that the Bird's-Foot Violet offers no tempta- 

 tion to them. It bears cultivation very well in our gardens, 

 though very seldom seen in the collections of the lovers of hardy 

 border flowers. 



Independently of its interest to the mere spectator in the 

 great field of beauty, our plant has also much for those who like 

 to look more closely into the processes of nature. The root, 

 when the plant is taken up, has a bitten-off appearance, or, as 

 botanists say, it is pr^morse. Properly speaking, however, this 

 pr^morse "root" is nothing but an underground stem, — a little 

 trunk, — and the real roots, thread-like, proceed from it. This 

 stem makes a new addition to its crown every year, and some of 



