VIOLA-STUDIER. 455 



ignore those of almost equally variable species such as the plants in 

 question. 



Here are two or three instances of what is meant. An interesting 

 little plant was recorded by Dr. Trimen {Joum. Bot. 1871, 199) from 

 St. Aubyu's Bay, Jersey. He states it agrees well with the descrip- 

 tion of V. nemaicsensis Jord. in Boreau's Fl. dii Centre, 83, and with 

 Billot's specimens so named, and it is certainly the var. 0. nana of 

 Lloyd's FL de V Quest, 70. " The petals are pale bluish white, a little 

 shorter than the sepals, and the spur blue." One of the first papers 

 in this Journal was by Mr. J. Gr. Baker, " On some of the British 

 Pausies, agrestal and montane" {Joum. Bot. 1863, 11-16), where 

 several British plants are more or less doubtfully identified with 

 Jordanian species. Then there is the Viola Rothomageusis of T. F. 

 Forster non Desf. in Flora Tonbridyensis, a plant which must not 

 be confused with the true Rouen plant ; specimens of both can be 

 seen in the National Herbarium. In Pryor's Flora of Hertfordshire 

 we have the following forms of V. arvensis distinguished by the 

 author: — V. segetal is 3 ovd., V. Deseglisei Jord., V. PaiUouxii Jord., 

 and doubtfully V. nemausensis Jord. and V. ruralis Jord. 



Anyone taking up this subject would be greatly helped by two 

 recent publications : the one is the elaboration of the subspecies, 

 forms, and varieties of Viola tricolor for Rouy & Foucaud's Flore de 

 France, and the other the subject of the present notice, a careful and 

 well-illustrated paper by Dr. Wittrock. In the former we have keys 

 to the subspecies, and then again keys to the forms, the authors 

 naming very few novelties ; whereas Dr. Wittrock, in nearly every case 

 with the subspecies, varieties, and forms, adopts names of his own. 



Dr. Wittrock's paper is divided into four portions, the first two 

 treating of the morphology and biology, the third is a systematic 

 treatment of eleven species of the Melanium section, and the fourth 

 is on certain hybrids of the same section. 



Four subspecies of V. tricolor L. are described — genuina, ammo- 

 tropha, coniophila, and stenochila — and under each, forms and subforms 

 are given; five subspecies of V. arvensis Murr. — communis, sublilacina, 

 patens, curtisepala, and striolata — and three subspecies of V. alpestris 

 DC. — zermattensis, vallombrosana, and siibarvensis. The other plants 

 treated of are V. lutea Huds. var. grandifiora (L. Vill.), V. hispida 

 Lam., V. declinata Waldst. & Kit., F. latisepala Wettst., V. Munby- 

 ana Boiss. & Rent., V. calcarata L., V. cornuta L., and T'. altaica Ker. 



The descriptions are careful, and the work, as has been said, is 

 most admirably illustrated with fourteen coloured plates ; and a 

 word of praise is certainly here well merited, as the coloured figures 

 contribute considerably to the utility of the paper ; but a doubt 

 may be expressed whether the author has suflficiently well compared 

 the plants he has in hand with those already bearing names, specially 

 with species of M. Jordan's creation. Tliis distinguished botanist, 

 as is well kuown, has described a number of plants allied to V. tri- 

 color and V. arvensis.^' The most important feature is possibly the 



* Confer Jordan, Pugillus Planta Novcb — Observationes PI. Criticce ; and 

 in Boreau's Fl. du Centre, ed. 3. 



