VIOLA. 77 



or lyrate-pinnatifid. Contrast these with the stipules of the 

 Blue Violet. 



The J^io?ferSy in their gurden dress, are a perpetual 

 charm, sj^jorting into varieties infinite, yet always with 

 ^^method in their madness." In their wild or ordinary state, 

 they are definitely tri-colored,* with one petal yellow, two 

 white, and two of that ^leculiar dee^o rich purple known as 

 violet, one of the tints of the rainbow. By cultivation the 

 petals may be enlarged tenfold, and their three native 

 colors strangely mixed and confounded. Comparing this 

 flower with the Blue Violet, Avhy is it resupinate ? Why 

 irregular ? Which petal is spurred, the loAver or upper ? 

 Which are violet-colored ? AVhy are the sepals auricu- 

 late ? W^hich stamens are spurred ? Why are the anthers 

 adnate ? Being caulescent, this Violet develojis no cleisto- 

 gene flowers. 



The Name. — Vhla, the ancient Latin name of these 

 plants,f is adopted in modern science as that of the genus. 

 It includes 150 species. The Blue Violet is F. cnciiUafa; the 

 Pansy, F. tricolor' — both names suggestive of their leading 

 characteristics. The Violets of S. America are shrubs. 



The Order Violace^, the Violetworts, includes the 

 genus Viola, and 21 kindred genera, one of which, Solea, 

 grows in the woods of New York, westward and soutliAvard. 



Many of the Violets, especially those of S. America, possess valua- 

 ble medicinal properties. lonidium Itubu, called Poaya in Peru, is 



* It is worthy of notice that when all the petals of a flower are equal in size and 

 shape, they are also equally colored and streaked ; but as soon as one petal is eiilar^fed 

 for any special purpose, a change of color or adornment generally ensues. Thus in 

 the Violets, especially in the Pansy, the lower petal forms aii alighting place for the 

 insect, and is more brightly colored than the rest of the flower— a door-step whence 

 the color lines load directly to the honey trove within, and in getting it the bee it 

 sure to be dusted with the pollen. 



t In ancient fable. lo, the daughter of Atlas, fleeing from Apollo, escaped to tho 

 woods, where, by the power of Diana, she was changed into a Violet, which even now 

 modestly avoids the gaze of Phoebus by hiding her face in her own leaves. 



