VIOLACEAE VIOLET FAMILY 
HAIRY BLUE VIOLET 
Viola sororia Willd. 
By act of the state legislature in 1908 the Violet was 
made the official state flower of Illinois. No particular 
species was designated but it is commonly assumed that 
the lawmakers had in mind 
the common Blue Violets, of 
which there are several spe- 
cies in the state. 
Blue Violets should never 
be picked except in places 
where they are very abun- 
dant; but where there are 
hundreds of plants and liter- 
ally thousands of blossoms 
it does no harm to pick them 
provided only the flowers are 
taken and roots and leaves 
are not disturbed. | 
Often the beautiful blue 
flowers that we so admire 
produce no seeds. Late in the 
season small flowers without 
petals are produced on short 
peduncles. These never open \ 
but are self-pollinated and \ \ | 
produce seeds abundantly. 
The Hairy Blue Violet is found in moist meadows and woods 
and by shady ledges from western Quebec and New England to 
Minnesota, south to North Carolina and Oklahoma. The lower 
surfaces of the leaves and usually the petioles are covered with 
very short hairs. 
It blooms in April and May and sometimes again in autumn. 
The peduncles are often 6 inches or more in length and the 
flowers shade through deep violet to lavender or lighter. The 
fruit is a many-seeded capsule. 
The Common Blue Violet, Viola papilionacea Pursh, 1s very 
similar but the leaves are smooth beneath. Occasionally the flowers, 
as in the above species, may be white. (See frontispiece.) 
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