Wild Flowers East of the Rockies 211 

 VIOLET FAMILY (Violaceae). 



A small family of herbs with perfect but irregular 

 flowers having five petals, the lower one of which is 

 spurred; flowers nodding. 



BIRD-FOOT VIOLET (Viola pedata) is a well 

 known and very characteristic violet, one not apt 

 to be confused with the other species of blue violets. 

 The flowers of this species are the largest of the blue 

 violets; they are blue-violet or purple-violet and have 

 a bright orange center, formed by the large anthers 

 that block the throat of the blossom. The lower, 

 large petal is slightly grooved, veined with white at 

 its base and has a short spur to hold nectar for its 

 valued insect visitors, these being bumblebees and 

 small butterflies. 



The leaves grow on long petioles, in dense tufts, 

 from the root; each leaf is cut into five to eleven 

 parts, all sharply pointed, and the middle and lateral 

 ones with their ends notched or cleft. 



EARLY BLUE VIOLET; PALMATED VIOLET 

 (Viola palmata) has slightly smaller blue flowers with 

 bearded side petals; occasionally the flowers may be 

 nearly white. Its petals are narrower than those of 

 the last species and the anthers are smaller and 

 less .conspicuous. 



The basal leaves are very variable in shape, rang- 

 ing from heart-shaped with rounded teeth and an un- 

 broken edge to palmately cleft ones with five or 

 seven rounded lobes; they are never cleft entirely to 

 the stem as are those of Bird-foot Violet, but only 

 about half way, and all divisions are rounded with no 

 sharp angles. Both of these violets are common in 

 dry ground, the former in fields or the borders of 

 swamps, and the latter usually in thin woodland, 

 from Me. to Minn, and southwards. 



