MAY. 



35 



The flower is rich in blue-purple color, and some- 

 times the two upper petals are a strong violet-purple. 

 The little touch of orange-jellow in the center is ex- 

 tremely eft'ective. In the sandy soil of Nantucket, 

 and on the borders of Buzzard's Bay, this violet 

 blooms with spendthrift prodigality, its great clumps 

 of light blue-purple bloom decorating the springtime 

 meadows as far as the eye can reach. The blossoms 

 droop sadly after being picked, but revive at once on 

 being placed in a glass of 

 water. I have found the 

 flower in its prime in Nan- 

 tucket on the 25th of May. 



Sweet White Violet. The sweet 

 Viola blanda. white violct 



has the faintest and most deli- 

 cate perfume imaginal)le. I 

 should think Bryant had this 

 flower in mind when he wrote 

 about the yellow violet, for 

 besides its " faint perfume " 

 it is readily found in the 

 " bare forest." The blossom 

 is tiny, but extremely pretty 

 under the microscope, the lower p^tal showing pur- 

 ple striping in delicate hair lines. It is very com- 

 mon in the woods of the AYhite Mountains in May. 



Sweet White Violet. 



