100 The Romance of Wild Flowers 
between the grass or moss to the moist earth 
beneath. 
We have seven British species of Viola, and the 
arrangements for cross-fertilisation are very similar in 
each, but the Pansy (Viola tricolor) appears to be the 
only one that gets any considerable benefit out of its 
perfect flowers; and consequently 7t does not produce 
these imperfect (cleistogamous) flowers! The Marsh 
Violet {V. palustris), the Hairy Violet (V. hirta), the 
Dog Violet (V. caning), the Wood Violet (V. sylvatica), 
and the rare Sand Violet (V. arenaria) differ only in 
comparatively small points, which we need not discuss. 
They have all purple or blue flowers, but the Wild 
Pansy differs in more striking fashion from the others. 
There is no suggestion of woodiness about 
its rootstock; its stems are long and 
angular; its stipules are leafy and copious; 
its leaves, instead of the general heart- 
shape of the Violets, are more lance-shaped, 
with large rounded teeth; the sepals are 
\J much longer—in some forms longer than 
the petals—they have larger “ears,” and 
the two uppermost petals instead of leaning 
Sen Se forward and slightly curling at their edges as 
do the Violets, keep quite upright and flat. 
The colour of the petals is not uniform as a rule, but 
it differs in individuals. Usually purple, yellow, and 
white are combined in the same flower, but in varying 
proportions. An important difference is seen in the 
character of the style and stigma. The style is short 
and straight, but has a curved base which constitutes 
a kind of spring, always keeping the stigma pressed 
close to the large platform petal. The stigma itself 
