WILD FLOWERS BLUE AND PURPLE 



know this graceful, twining perennial as the Hog 

 Peanut. It is found from New Brunswick to Florida, 

 west to Lake Superior, Nebraska, and Louisiana. 



THE VIOLETS 



VioTaceae. Violet Family. 



Violets are probably the best and most popularly 

 known of all the wild flowers. The Latin name 

 Viola, is derived from the classic Greek, Ion. Jupiter, 

 we are told, fell in love with lo, the daughter of the 

 river god, Inachus, and in order to conceal her from 

 the jealousy of Juno, his wife, Jupiter changed lo into 

 a heifer, and then created the fragrant Violet that she 

 might feed upon the delicate petals during her trans- 

 formation. So runs this ancient Greek myth regard- 

 ing the origin of the Violet. Be this as it may, Jupiter 

 must have considered the creation of the Violet with 

 exceeding affection for lo, since his irony is revealed 

 later in the lines of Shakespeare, who regarded the 

 Violet "sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes." The 

 Violet became the national emblem of the Greeks. 

 They wove it into the chaplets with which they 

 crowned both the living and the dead, as occasion 

 required. The flowers were used extensively for deco- 

 rating on gay, festive and holiday celebrations, and 

 they also served an equal purpose in times of grief 

 and sorrow as a fitting tribute to the departed. There 

 was a superstition among the Greeks that the Violet 

 possessed a charm that could stay the ill-effects of 

 excessive indulgence in wine. Wreaths of Violets 



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