HAIRY VIOLET 11 



The Rock Rose disperses its seeds by the aid of the wind. The 

 capsule splits into 3-5 valves, the seeds being jerked out and dispersed 

 by the wind. The plant is a lime-loving plant requiring a lime soil, 

 but where that desideratum is wanting it is a rock plant, growing on 

 various rocky subsoils. 



It is galled by Diplosis helianthemi. The beetles Bruchus ater, 

 B. Cistii, and the Lepidoptera Hypochalcia ahenella, Butalis fuscoalnea, 

 Teleia sequax feed upon it, also Brown Argus (Polyommatus artaxerxes), 

 the dark Annulet (Coleophora ochrea), and Laverna miscella. 



The name Helianthemum, given by Cordus, is from the Greek 

 helios, sun, anthemos, flower, in allusion to its habit of opening its 

 flower when the sun is out. Chamczcistus is from the Greek chamai, 

 on the ground, and cistus, a shrub. 



The English names are Rock Rose, Sot Flower, Sun Daisy, Sun 

 Flower, Sun Rose. 



This plant is often cultivated in gardens as a rock plant. Cuttings 

 are easily made from it under glass. White and double flowers 

 occasionally occur. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



41. Helianthemum Chamczcistus, Mill. Dwarf shrub, leaves oval, 

 opposite, with fringed stipules, green above, hoary below, flowers yellow, 

 in a raceme, with bracts, style bent below, sepals 5, 2 small, blunt. 



Hairy Violet (Viola hirta, L.) 



As with the Sweet Violet no fossil seeds of this species have been 

 found. It is confined to the cold Temperate Zone, in Europe, N. and 

 W. Asia, extending as far as N.-W. India. It is absent in Wales 

 from Brecon and Radnor, Pembroke, Cardigan, Merioneth, and from 

 Mid Lanes, and the Isle of Man, but elsewhere it is universal. In 

 Scotland it does not occur in Roxburgh, Berwick, Haddington, Edin- 

 burgh, Fife, Forfar, Kincardine. From Forfar it ranges to the south 

 of England, and is found at a height of 1000 ft. in Yorks. it occurs 

 also in Ireland. 



The Hairy Violet is found on dry banks, and in woods, in hilly 

 country as a rule, being addicted more especially to drier conditions 

 than the Sweet Violet, which thrives best in the shade, but this species 

 may also be found in damper stations in woods in low-lying situations. 

 There is less likelihood of this species being spread artificially, and it 

 has a less wide range. 



The habit is prostrate like that of the Sweet Violet, which also has 



