April - May 

 Deep woods 



GREEN VIOLET 



Hybanthus concolor (Forst.) Sprcng. 



'I'lit'v c.ill it a violet, but at least the botanists put the 



.uiccii violet ill a sej)aratc genus. Hybanthus, under the 



ianiily of ^'ioIaceao, the violets. Else it would seem more 



out of place in such elegnnt ooini)any than it does. Green violet looks very 



much like a small, coiniii()ii|il;Kc. uninspiring, unbeautiful weed. But the 



flower has the same structure as a violet. 



Superiicially it may appear a.s nn-violetlike as any pl.mt one might 

 fin'l — a tall stem, hairy, with long tapering leaves set alternately ui)on 

 it, and, in the ;i\ils of the leaves, queer little green flowers of a peculiar 

 shape. But on e.xjiiiiining these little flowers under a magnifying glass, 

 one who is not a botanist may discover .'Something surprising. That little 

 green thing really does look something like a violet. The color is all 

 wrong, of coui-se; a green 11ow(m- nlways looks like something imborn, 

 something too s(M)n out of the bud and uncolored as yet by the sunshine. 

 i)ut green violets stiiy green. Their tiny green petals enclose a seed- 

 producing mechanism, ii pod, whieh is properly violet-like and thus puts 

 the green violet automatically into an oidci' of ll(.wer> noted for beautifid 

 blos.^oms. 



CIrccn violet is found not lomiiionly but occasionally in Illinois, in 

 moist ravines, in wwids along creeks, in woods rich in moist leaf mold 

 and shaded bv tall trees. 



GO 



