432 DICTIONARY OF POPULAR NAMES VIOLET 



(Violacese), native of this country, growing on banks and way- 

 sides. The Violet is used in medicine in the preparation of 

 Syrup of Violets ; it is considered to have aperient and emetic 

 properties. The scent of the Violet makes it a favourite with all 

 classes. In the spring it is largely collected by flower-gatherers 

 and sold in bunches in all the principal towns. The double 

 variety is highly prized and is extensively cultivated in gardens, 

 especially the sort called Neapolitan, which, on account of its 

 forming a short stem, is called the Tree Violet. 



Shakespeare says, " I think the king is but a man as I am ; 

 the violet smells to him as it does to me." 



V. tricolor, an annual native of this country, has small 

 w^hite and yellow flowers, but by cultivation and cross-breeding 

 many varieties have been raised, remarkable for their large size 

 and beautiful various-coloured flowers, popularly know^n by the 

 name of Heartsease and Pansies. 



Violet-wood. {Sec Myall-wood.) 



Viper Grass. {See Scorzonera.) 



Virgin's Bower {Clemcctis F^i!rt/6a), a slender-stemmed climber 

 of the Buttercup family (Eanunculacese), native of this country, 

 climbing over hedges, bushes, and trees, and is in common use 

 for covering garden arbours. It is also called Traveller's Joy 

 and Old Man's Beard. 



Virginian Creeper {AmjJclopsis hederacea), a tendril, cling- 

 ing climber of the Vine family (Ampelide?e), native of North 

 America. This plant has no special property except that it is 

 useful in covering naked walls, to which it clings by tendrils, 

 the points of which adhere to the walls. It presents a very 

 showy appearance in autumn, its leaves, which are digitate, 

 turning red before they fall. 



Vitivert, an Indian name for Cuscus. 



WaUaba, a name in Demerara of Eperua fcdcata, a large 

 tree of the ftimily Leguminos?e, attaining a height of 50 feet. It 

 has winged leaves and red flowers, produced in long-stalked 

 drooping bunches ; its pod is curved in form of a hatchet, con- 

 taining three or four very flat seeds ; its wood is of a bright 



