VIOLA 75 



decennio abhinc, Morison, Hist. Ox. ii. 475, 1680, Plot mentions 

 the plant, but not from a Berkshire locality. 



1. Isis. Cumnor, Dyer. Wytham woods. Coppice near Cumnor. 



Near the Blind Pinnocks. 



2. Ock. Bagley Wood. Between South Hinksey and Childswell 



Farm, Baxter, in Walk. Fl. Besilsleigh. Tubney. Near Cher- 

 bui-y Camp. Cothill, Wittenham Clumps. Uffington. Kingston 

 Lisle. Lockinge. Blewbury. Upton. Denchworth, &c. 



3. Pang. In Basildon Wood, E. Forster, in Bot. Guide, 1805. Streatley, 



W. Neicboiild. Park Coppice and other woods about Hampstead 

 Norris, Lousley. Common about Beedon, W.M. Rogers. Compton. 

 Very abundant about Yattendon,Aldworth, Ashampstead, Pang- 

 bourn, Sulham, &c. Bradfield. Lowbury. Unwell Wood, &c. 



4. Kennet. Bagnor, Bicheno, in Mavors Agr. Berks, 1809. Common 



about Beedon, W. M. Rogers. Wickham, Mrs. Batson. Lambourn. 

 Farnborough. Sliefford. Near Hungerford. Walbury Camp. 

 Gibbet Hill. Englefield. 



5. Loddon. Wargrave, Britt. Contr. Common about Park Place, 



Stanton. Hurley. Culham. Quarry woods. Cookham. Ashley 

 Hill. Stubbing's Heath. Slopes of Windsor Castle. Near the 

 Grotto, Frogmore. 

 Viola hirta has a wide distribution in Berkshire, but it is especially 

 abundant on the Oolite and Chalk. On the latter formation it occurs 

 in the greatest profusion. A grassy bank under the shelter of a beech 

 wood when covered with this plant is a lovely sight in spring-time, 

 as it is one of the freest flowering species in the genus. The colour 

 of the flowers varies considerably. Usually they are of a more pur- 

 plish blue than the flowers of V. Riviniana, but they are also found of 

 a slaty blue, very rarely of a reddish-jjurple tint (/. rosea), and sometimes 

 of a pure white (/. alba), as at Wytham and Hampstead Norris. The 

 flowers also show great variation in size. The petals are sometimes 

 broader than is usually the case ; the apex of the petals is sometimes 

 rounded, sometimes notched. The leaves also vary considerably in size 

 and in the degree of hairiness. In the Icones Florae Germanicae et Helveticae, 

 iii. tt. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, Reichenbach has figured several forms. Of these 

 var. PARVULA (Opiz), Reichb. 1. c. p. 4 (1838), with large flowers and 

 small leaves, has been seen in Wytham and Bagley woods, at Hamp- 

 stead Norris, &c. Var. gkandifolia, with larger leaves and rather 

 narrower petals, has occurred in Wytham Wood and Hampstead Norris 

 woods. A plant with much smaller flowers and leaves and very narrow 

 petals has been gathered near Basildon and at Wytham ; it is probably 

 the var. cALCAREA,Bab. Man. Brit. Bot. 35 (1847 ). Var. hirsuta, Schult., 

 a not unusual form, has the notched petals of var. parvida (Opiz). 

 The hybrids of this species and V. odorata have already been alluded 



