8^ VlOLACE^ 



Order IX. VIOLACEiE— VIOLET TRIBE. 



Sepals 5 ; petals 5, sometimes unequal ; stamens 5 ; anthers lengthened 

 into a flat membrane ; style with an oblique hooded stigma ; ovary 1-celled ; 

 seeds numerous, in three rows. This order, which consists chiefly of the 

 Violet genus, contains many favourite flowers of the gardener. The greater 

 number of the tribe are hardy herbaceous plants, some remarkable for their 

 fragrance, others for their beautiful colours ; but few are shrubs. They are 

 found in most parts of the world, often occupying very elevated situations ; 

 l^ut they are entirely absent from the countries of Tropical Asia. The plants 

 of this order which occur in temperate regions are generally herbaceous, but 

 in South America the species are mostly shrubs. Their medicinal properties 

 are found chiefly in the roots, which appear in all the Violets to possess 

 emetic properties in a greater or less degree. One of the Ipecacuanhas, so 

 valuable as a medicine, is the root of a Brazilian violet ; and several of the 

 shrubby Violacece of Brazil are plants of great interest. 



Violet {Viola). — Sepals 5, extended at the base ; petals 5, unequal, 

 the lower one lengthened into a hollow spur beneath ; anthers united into a 

 tube, the two lower ones furnished with spurs, which are inclosed within the 

 spur of the corolla ; capsule with three valves. Viola was> the Latin name of 

 some fragrant flower called Ion by the Greeks. 



Violet {Viola). 

 * Leaves and flowers all springing directly from the root. 



1. Hairy Violet {V. hlrta). — Leaves heart-shaped, hairy, as are also the 

 leaf -stalks and capsules ; bracts below the middle of the flower-stalks ; sepals 

 obtuse ; lateral petals usually with a hairy central line. Plant perennial. 

 This Violet, more than any other species, resembles that favourite flower, the 

 sweet-scented Wood- Violet ; but its blue tint is darker, and usually it has not 

 creeping shoots. The rough hairs which beset the leaf-stalks and leaves, and 

 the total want of the sweet scent of that Violet, are also obvious distinctions. 

 It blossoms in April, and is occasionally pale blue or white. It is not 

 unfrequent in English woods and pastures, preferring a chalky or limestone 

 soil, and thriving especially near the sea ; but it is a rare plant in Scotland, 

 although found in Dumfriesshire, and in the eastern parts of the country. 

 The flowers of this, as well as of some other species, are often destitute of 

 petals. 



2. Sweet Violet {V. odordta). — Leaves heart-shaped, slightly downy, 

 especially beneath ; bracts about the middle of the flower-stalks ; sepals 

 obtuse ; lateral petals with a hairy central line ; scions creeping. Spring 

 Violets ! AVhat lover of the country is not gladdened by their coming, and 

 is not willing to search again for their buds among the dark-green leaves, as 

 he did in his childhood 1 What wonder that poets have made them symbolic 

 of beauty and virtue, from the old Arab bards and the Provencals of later 

 years, and the Eastern minstrel who sings of the violet-tinted eyelid, to him 

 who in our days compares the eye to the Violet dropping dew, or the secluded 

 maiden to the 



" Violet l>y the mossy stone, lialf hidden liom the eye !" 



