144 PITTONIA. 
among the leaf-blades. The capsules in this are twice as 
long as in any of the above, are quite prismatic, i. e., of equal 
thickness from one end to the other, and distinctly though 
ebtusely trigonous. It inhabits only decidedly wet and 
boggy open meadows, or else equally wet sedgy places along 
the margins of streamlets in more shaded ground. 
Of course, I cannot be positive that this is V. cucullata of 
Aiton, or of any other author. Its more strongly cucullate 
leaves, however, render it not improbable that it may have 
been the plant he had in view. Nevertheless, if our stem- - 
less blue violets do really, as my own researches of one sea- 
son indicate, develop their best specific characters during 
their summer period of cleistogamous flowering, it will only 
render the old, brief, imperfect descriptions drawn from in- 
sufficient vernal material less useful than ever. I really 
think that no one knows, or ever will know, what V. obliqua 
and V. cucullata of the Hortus Kewensis are. l 
V. vittosa, Walter? This is truly no better than a nomen 
nudum. Every one of the descriptive terms that author uses 
will apply equally well to every other one of our blue-flow- 
ered, stemless violets that is not glabrous better than to the 
one which, as we all assume, he ought to have had in mind; 
for the accepted V. villosa is not villous. It is rather stiffly 
hirsutulous. But the species, as we understand it, is a very 
good one; and all I have to add to the account others have 
given of it is, that its later larger leaves are borne an inch — 
or more above the surface of the ground on slender petioles, 
and that the ovaries of the apetalons flowers: are partly 
or wholly buried on.short horizontal peduneles. It is there- 
fore related to V. palmata and V. obliqua of this paper, and 
not the bog-meadow V. cucullata. 
The following are far-western specific or subspecific allies 
of the foregoing: 
V. NEPHROPHYLLA. Glabrous throughout; leaves firm 
and almost subcoriaceous, the earlier from reniform to round- 
reniform, very evenly crenate, an inch wide, on petioles of 
