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NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [14:5— May, 1918 



It is at this time of year in which we seem to have a desire for 



something more than common gain. 



Although I be- 

 lieve that more 

 than a hundred 

 species of violets 

 have been record- 

 ed, only about 

 thirty are found 

 in our country ; 

 of these perhaps 

 twenty are native 

 and flourish in the 

 Northeastern 

 states. Unfortu- 

 nately we have no 

 strongly sweet- 



scented species, 

 none 



,', . . sweeter than 

 the lids of Juno's 

 eyes 



Or Cytherea's breath, 



as Shakespeare 

 found the English 

 blossom. 



Our own very 

 dear, Viola pal- 

 metto, which refers 

 to the shape of the 

 leaf, palmate leav- 

 ed or lobed, variety 

 cucullata, the com- 

 mon blue violet, is a humble bit of 4 color which does not disdain to 

 brighten up our dooryards or pastures; it likes human company, 

 but is also familiar on roadsides, woods, meadows and in fields, 

 far away from the sound of man covering hollows and hillocks in 

 such purple crowds that : 



The Common Blue Violet Growing in a Pasture 

 Photo ty Verne Morton 



