ON SOME BRITISH VIOLA FOEMS. 

 By W. H. Beeby, A.L.S. 



The ill-defined position of Viola lactea Smith, var. intermedia 

 Watson, which has been commented upon by various writers, was 

 first made specially evident to myself on becoming acquainted with 

 that form and typical V. lactea as natives of Surrey some six years 

 ago. The wish to learn something more about this form led 

 eventually to a series of observations on the plant, both in the wild 

 state and under cultivation. At the same time various other forms 

 have been studied and cultivated, and help has been derived from 

 the excellent Fasciculus (I.) of ' Violse Sueciae Exsicc' issued by 

 Neuman, Wahlstedt, and Murbeck (Lund, 1886), and by corre- 

 spondence with some of the authors of the same. I have thought 

 that it may be worth while to record the result of these observations; 

 for although most of the forms mentioned are Surrey plants, they 

 have also, for the most part, a wide range in Britain. 



The group now dealt with embraces Viola Fdviniana, silvestns 

 (EeichenbacJiiana), canina, lactea, stagnina, and their hybrids; 

 remarks on the odorato-liirta alliance are deferred for the present. 



Viola RmNiANA Reich. — This variable species is represented, m 

 the above-mentioned Fasciculus, by two varieties (besides the 

 typical), both of which are found in Britain. The var. villosa 

 N. W. & M. is a form in which the peduncles, petioles, and stems 

 are more or less pubescent ; scattered individuals occur occasionally 

 growing with the type, with which it is connected by intermediates. 

 — Surrey ! ; Bucks, G, Nicholson ! 



Yar. nemorosa N. W. & M. — This rather marked variety is a 

 large -flowered, late-flowering woodland plant, with somewhat narrow 

 petals and a coloured corolla- spur ; as remarked by the authors of 

 the name, it shows some approach to V. silvestris ; but the spur is 

 deeply notched at the apex, and the sepal appendages are con- 

 spicuous. — Surrey!, where it seems to be confined to the Lower 

 Greensand. It is quite a difierent plant from the large and round- 

 flowered form of our chalk copses, which also occurs on the Lower 

 Greensand. 



V. RiviNiANA X SILVESTRIS. — Tliis hybrid is recognised by the 

 Swedish botanists, and although it is a form I have not had under 

 cultivation, I do not hesitate to accept Herr Murbeck's determina- 

 tions, which in various other critical cases have been confirmed by 

 observations and experiments. — Surrey !, with the two parents. 



V. SILVESTRIS Reich. — I have not always found this plant and V. 

 Piiviniana so easily separable as are V. canina and V. lactea, except 

 when in ripe fruit ; but this is probably owing in some measure to 

 the fact that less close attention has been given to them than to the 

 two latter species. There are no varieties to record ; a form with 

 pure white flowers occurs in Surrey. 



V. RiviNiANA X CANINA. — My Cultivated plant — now a large one — 

 of this hybrid tends towards canina in general habit, the barren rosette 

 being absent ; the leaves, however, are almost those of Fuviniana as to 



