THE WOOD ANEMONE. 4 



There is one other native species : 



The Pasque-flower (A . pulsatilla). Blossoms before the leaves mature. Flowers 

 dull purple ; exterior covered with silky hairs ; leaves also silky. Fruit, Lttle nut- 

 lets (achenes) provided with long feathered awns, with which they float on the wind 

 when ripe. Flowers, May and June, on chalk downs and limestone pastures in 

 Essex and Gloucestershire, and from York to Norfolk. 



The Sweet Yiolet (Viola odorata). 



One of the most valued flowers of spring in cities is the 

 cultivated violet, and the rambler from town considers himself 

 fortunate if he comes upon a sheltered bank whereon the wild 

 Sweet Violets grow. We need not dwell at any length upon 

 the special characters of this species, for its possession of sweet 

 perfume is sufficient alone to separate it from the related species 

 comprised in the genus Viola. 



It will be seen to have a short rootstock, and to give off 

 runners. The leaves are broadly heart-shaped, and have a way 

 of enlarging after the plant has flowered a characteristic 

 shared by the Marsh Violet and the Hairy Violet. The flowers 

 vary in colour ; they may be blue, reddish-purple, or white. 

 The petals are unequal in size and shape, there being two pairs 

 and an odd one. This is larger than the others, and is pro- 

 duced backwards as a short hollow spur. It is really the 

 uppermost of the five petals, but, owing to the flower-stalk 

 (peduncle] invariably bending over near the summit, it appears 

 to us always as the lowest. 



A careful examination of the form and mechanism of the 

 essential organs of this genus will be well repaid by the light 

 thrown upon Nature's methods to secure the continuity of 

 species. The style on arising from the ovary is thin and bent, 

 but gradually expands until the stigmatic surface is very broad 

 in comparison. The stamens surround the style, the anthers so 

 closely touching each other laterally that they enclose a space 

 in which the ovary and style occupy the centre, and from which 



B 2 



