144 



CXXX. VIOLACEAE. The Violet Tribe. 



Violarieje, Dec. Fl. Ft. 4. 801. (1805.); Juss. Ann. Mus. 18. (1811) ; Dec. Prodr. 1. 287. 

 (1824).— Violacejs, Lindl. Synops. 34. (1829). 



Diagnosis. Polypetalous dicotyledons, with definite hypogynous stamens, 

 concrete carpella, a 1 -celled ovarium with narrow parietal placentae, 5 distinct 

 sepals, an erect embryo, stipulate leaves, and a capsule with loculicidal de- 

 hiscence. 



Anomalies. The berry of Pentaloba is 5-lobed, but there is only one style. 

 The plants called Sauvageae, if they really belong to the order, have a septici- 

 dal dehiscence. 



Essential Character. — Sepals 5, persistent, with an imbricate aestivation, usually elon- 

 . gated at the base. Petals 5, hypogynous, equal or unequal, usually withering-, and with an 

 obliquely convolute aestivation. Stamens 5, alternate with the petals, occasionally opposite 

 them, inserted on a hypogynous disk, often unequal; anthers bilocular, bursting inwards, 

 either separate or cohering-, and lying close upon the ovarium ; filaments dilated, elongated 

 beyond the anthers; two, in the irregular flowers, generally furnished with an appendage or 

 o-land at the base. Ovarium 1-celled, many-seeded, or rarely 1-sceded, with 3 parietal placen- 

 ta opposite the 3 outer sepals ; style single, usually declinate, with an oblique hooded stigma. 

 Capsule of 3 valves, bearing the placentae in their axis. Seeds often with a tumour at their 

 base ; embryo straight, erect, in the axis of fleshy albumen. — Herbaceous plants or shrubs. 

 Leaves simple, usually alternate, sometimes opposite, stipulate, entire, with an involute verna- 

 tion. Inflorescence various. 



Affinities. Mr. Brown, in speaking of Violaceae, mentions, in his Appen- 

 dix to the Congo Voyage, a genus, at that time unpublished, called Hymenan- 

 thera, having 5 scales alternating with the petals, with a bilocular berry, in 

 each cell of which is a single pendulous seed. It appears very paradoxical to 

 associate such a plant with an order otherwise well defined ; and Mr. Brown 

 himself seems to think it should be placed between Violeae and Polygaleae. 

 The structure of this genus points out strongly the relation of Violaceae to Po- 

 lygaleae, to the latter of which, however, it rather appears to me to be refera- 

 ble. These two orders differ from each other, in the latter having a 2-celled 

 not 1-celled ovarium, leaves without stipulae, and 1-celled anthers. Drosera- 

 ceae are known from Violaceae by their numerous styles, minute embryo, circi- 

 nate leaves, and want of stipulee. Passifloreae, to which the baccate genera 

 of Violaceae, and especially Corynostylis, (Calyptrion, Dec), which has a twi- 

 ning stem, undoubtedly approach, are distinguished py a multitude of charac- 

 ters. The irregular flowers, dilated filaments and sepals, and stipulate leaves, 

 of Violaceae, usually indicate them at once ; but the regular-flowered fruticose 

 genera, which constitute the tribe of Alsodineae, are not to be recognised by a 

 combination of such characters. 



Geography. Of these tribes, Violeae chiefly consist of European, Siberian, 

 and American plants ; a few only being found within the tropics of Asia. 

 They are abundant in South America, the forms of which are, however, mate- 

 rially different from those of the more temperate pans of the world, most of 

 them being shrubs, while the northern Violets are uniformly herbaceous, or 

 nearly so. Alsodineae are exclusively South American and African, with the 

 exception (?) of Pentaloba, which, upon the authority of Loureiro, is Cochin- 

 chinese. Sauvageae are exclusively South American or African. 



Properties. The roots of all Violaceae appear to be more or less emetic, a 

 property which is strongly possessed by the South American species, and in a 

 less degree only by those of Europe. Hence they form part of the herbs 

 known under the name of Ipecacuanha. Ionidium parviflorum is used by the 

 Spanish Americans, and I. Poaya by the Brazilians, as a substitute for Ipeca- 

 cuanha. PI. Us. 9. and 20. The root of another species, called Poaya, 



