Cr.ASS V. ORDER I. VIOLA. 321 



yellow, or white, colour eitlier simple or mixed, the upper petals 

 mostly coloured. 



yS. arvensis, (Fig. 390.) Corolla shorter than the calyx, ypllow, or 

 white, the upper petals seldom coloured. V. arvensis, Sibth. Forst. 

 in English Botany Suppt. t. 2712. 



y. saxatilis, {Fig. 391.) Corolla yellow, longer than the calyx, the 

 plant small. V. saxatilis, Schm. V. Curtisii, Forst. in English 

 Botany, Suppt. t.2693. 



An extremely variable plant, both as to the size and colour of the 

 flowers. i?oo< small, and fibrous. Stem cveci, or ascending from two 

 to twelve or more inches high, smooth or hairy, especially in the lower 

 part, branched and leafy, straight or zig-zag, angular, and frequently 

 furrowed. Leaves on long flat footstalks, smooth, or hairy, the margins 

 deeply crenated, the lower ones ovate, with a heart-shaped base, the 

 upper ovale, or oblong lanceolate, and somewhat decurrent at the base. 

 Stipules large, in pairs at the base of each footstalk, lyrato pinnatifid, 

 the segments narrow, tongue-shaped, hairy and ciliated, generally 

 most numerous on the outer side, the terminal segment lai'ge, ovate, 

 entire, or crenated. Flou-crs solitary, on long axillary angular stalks, 

 bearing a pair of small lanceolate bractea, which are simple, or with 

 one or two slender teeth at the base. Calyx of five linear lanceolate 

 acute segments extended at the base from the insertion, in an oblong, 

 rounded, or notched, sometimes waved or lanceolate prolongation, 

 smooth, hairy or ciliated on the margin, and more or less distinctly 

 three ribbed. Corolla longer or shorter than the calyx,' and of vari- 

 ous colours, the four upper ones entire, the lower one broadest, heart- 

 shaped, and marked from the base with simple or slightly branched 

 purple lines, the lateral ones having at their base a tuft of obtuse 

 inflated hairs. Stamens somewhat united in their upper part 

 around the style, of two valves, the margins mostly hairy. Stigma 

 surrounded by an inflated hood, opening on one side near the apex 

 with a circular apperture, surrounded with a few short white 

 hairs. Style curved at the base, and marked on the under side from 

 the top with a dark line. Capsule obtusely triangular, of three valves, 

 opening elasticly. Seeds numerous, ovate, attached by one end to the 

 placenta. 



Habitat. — Banks and cultivated fields; frequent. /S. corn fields, 

 common, y. South of England and Ireland. 



Annual ; flowering during the Summer months. 



This is an extremely variable plant as to its size, hairiness, and the 

 colour of its flowers. It is said to be annual, biennial, or perennial, 

 according to the circumstances of its growth and cultivation; for it is 

 from this species that the many very beautiful and various coloured 

 sorts are obtained by cultivation that adorn our garden borders : 

 and the successful triumphs of the cultivator, in the production of large 



