THE DICOTYLEDONES 



1697 



Violet ; V. sylvestris, the Wood Violet ; V. paliistris, the Marsh Violet, and 

 V. tricolor, the Heartsease or Pansy. Many cultivated varieties have been 

 produced and are employed as bedding plants under the names of Viola 

 (Fig. 1560) and Pansy. 



Fig. 1559. — Viola gracilis. Flower 

 in face view. 



The plants are annual 

 or perennial herbs in tem- 

 perate regions, but in the 

 tropics some genera are 

 shrubs or even small trees, 

 or occasionally shrubby 

 climbers. The leaves are 

 alternate or rarely opposite 

 and are usually simple and 

 spathulate. Stipules are de- 

 veloped which may be either 

 small or large and leaf-like. 



The flowers spring from 

 the axils of bracts and the 

 pedicel bears two bracteoles. 

 In many of the genera the 

 flowers are actinomorphic, 

 the zygomorphic character 

 of Viola (Fig. 1561) being 

 somewhat exceptional. It is 

 caused by the enlargement 

 of the anterior petal which 



Fig. i^6o. — Viola. Garden for 



Fig. 1 56 1. — Viola odorata. Longitudinal section of 

 flower showing spurred petal. {After James and 

 Clapham.) 



