VIOLET FAMILY 517 



Ovary superior, 1-celled, maturing into a 3-valved capsule with valves placenta- 

 bearing along the middle. Style and stigma one. Seeds rather large, with a hard 

 coat and straight embryo in fleshy endosperm. — About 15 genera and 400 species; 

 all continents. 



1. VIOLA L. Violet 



Peduncles axillary, 1-flowered. Stipules persistent. Sepals unequal, pro- 

 duced below the point of insertion into auricles, persistent. Stamens with broad 

 connectives which are prolonged beyond the anthers, the two lower bearing wings 

 which project into the spur of the corolla. The valves of the capsule bear the 

 seeds along the middle, and after dehiscence fold together firmly lengthwise and 

 eject the seeds with violence. — Species 300, all continents, chiefly north temperate. 

 (Old Latin name used by Virgil.) 



Geog. note. — In California Viola is best-developed in the moister northern regions, — in wet 

 meadows, marshes; or bogs or in pine woods or in the Eedwood belt. Southward the genus be- 

 comes progressively less common, both as to species and individuals — in the Sierra Nevada, inner 

 South Coast Range and Southern California. Only two species are characteristic tropophytes 

 of the low foothills; they develop during the winter and spring rains and flower in March and 

 April. During the succeeding late spring, summer and early fall period, arid and rainless, their 

 above-ground organs perish and the plants hibernate by means of the deeply-seated rootstoeks 

 imtil the advent of another growing season. These two species are Viola pedunculata and Viola 

 douglasii. While Viola douglasii is very widely dispersed at low altitudes in cismontane Cali- 

 fornia, mostly in open ground, it keeps in the main to the interior and overlaps only somewhat 

 narrowly the territory of Viola pedunculata which, a strictly open-ground and abundant species, 

 is more nearly coastal in its distribution. 



Bibliog. — Gray, A., Memoranda of a revision of the N. Am. violets (Bot. Gaz. 11:253-256, 

 289-293,-1886). Greene, E. L., Eemarks on acaulescent violets (Pitt. 3:139-145,-1896) ; New 

 or noteworthy violets (Pitt. 3:313-318,-1898) ; A fascicle of new violets (Pitt. 4:3-9,-1899) ; 

 Some neglected violets (Pitt. 4:285-297, — 1901) ; Some new acaulescent violets (Pitt. 5:29-33, — 

 1902) ; New species of Viola (Lflts. 1:214-219,-1906) ; A fascicle of violets (Lflts. 2:94-98,— 

 1910). Brainerd, Ezra, Violets of N. Am. (Vt. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 224:1-172,-1921) ; Some 

 natural violet hybrids of N. Am. (I.e. 239:3-205,-1924). Newsom, V. M., Violets of S. Cal. 

 (Bull. S. Cal. Acad. 23*: 1-6, — 1924). Clausen, J., Chromosome number and relationship of some 

 N. Am. species of Viola (Ann. Bot. 43:741-764, figs. 1-59, — 1929). Baker, M. S., A revision of 

 the Pacific Coast species of Viola, ms. (1933). 



A. Leaf-blades divided or parted (merely toothed in one var. of no. 5). 

 Upper petals deep blue or purple ; lateral petals with a bearded spot. 



Leaves puberulent (sometimes glabrous) ; lateral and lower petals bluish or white with yel- 



lowdsh base 1. V. becTcwithii. 



Leaves glabrous ; lateral and lower petals yellow or cream-color 2. V. hallii. 



Petals all yellow or purplish or brownish externally or purple-veined ; lateral petals with or with- 

 out beard. 

 Leaves pinnately twice-parted into narrow segments; petals orange-yellow, the 3 lower 



purple-veined, the others brownish externally 3. V. douglasii. 



Leaves palmately cleft or divided. 



Stems mostly below ground, the peduncles mostly basal or scape-like ; petals pale yellow.. 



4. V. slieltonii. 

 Stems 4 to 14 inches high, naked below the leafy summit which bears the axillary pe- 

 duncles; petals yellow, purple externally 5. F. lobata. 



B. Leaf-blades undivided. 



Flowers yellow (blue or purple in one var. of no. 7). 



Stems prostrate, stolon-like; leaf -blades round-cordate, rounded at apex; Eedwood belt 



-^ ^ 6.V. sempervirens. 



Stems erect. 



Leaves mostly elongate. 



Peduncles usually surpassing the leaves; capsule puberulent; leaves commonly 



dentate, mostly % to 1^ inches long 7. V. purpurea. 



Peduncles usually not surpassing the leaves; capsule glabrous; leaves entire or 



subentire, mostly 1 to 2 inches long 8. V. nuttallii. 



Leaves not elongate. 



Peduncles 1^/^ inches long; corolla bright yellow, more or less purple-veined; leaf- 



blades thin; wet woods 9. V. glabella. 



Peduncles 4 to 5 inches long ; corolla golden yellow with brown-purple lines at base ; 



leaf -blades thickish; open hills 10. V. pedunculata. 



