48 FLOWERING PLANTS OF THE RIVIERA 



V. canina L. Dog Violet. Glabrous. Leaves ovate-cordate or oblong- 

 lanceolate, crenate-serrate. Stipules small, narrow, toothed and ciliate. Fruit- 

 ing peduncle erect. Style clavate, hooked. Stigma oblique. Variable in size, 

 habit, and colour of flower. Sepals narrow, acuminate. 



Sandy places in woods and hedges. April. Represented in the Var by the 

 sub-species V. Jordan! Hanry. It grows in woods and hedges in the north 

 of the Department. 



V. palustris L. Marsh Violet. Occurs in damp places in the montane and 

 sub-Alpine region of the Maritime Alps. 



** Upper petals erect, lower one directed downwards (Pansy). 



V. tricolor L. Heartsease or pansy. Sometimes annual. Glabrous or hairy. 

 Flowers oval or oblong, crenate. Stipules pinnatifid, with large terminal lobe. 

 Spur short. Flowers pale yellow, white, mauve, or parti-coloured ; very variable 

 in size. Polymorphic. 



Fields and waste places, common. April-June. 



The varieties V. arvensis Mttrr., and V. Kitkaibeliana R. et S. also 

 occur. 



POLYGALACE/E. 

 POLYQALA L. MILKWORT. 



Herbs or shrubs with entire leaves and no stipules. Flowers very irregular 

 in terminal racemes. Sepals 5, of which the 2 inner are larger, and usually petal- 

 like. Petals 3, 4, or 5, all more or less united with the stamens. Style with a 

 single stigma. Ovary and capsule flat, 2 celled. 



P. comosa Schk. Leaves narrow and glabrous; bracts longer than the 

 flower when in bud ; flowers small and close, pale pink ; lateral lobes of the 

 arillus shorter than those of P. nicaeensis and about a third of the length of the 

 seed ; central nerve of the wings often not uniting with the lateral nerves. 



Fields and grassy hills. April-June. Rare in the Var. Abundant near the 

 mouth of R. Nervia. 



P. nicaeensis Risso. Leaves lanceolate. Middle bract as long as the pedi- 

 cels of the open flower or longer ; lateral bracts about the length of the pedicel ; 

 capsule much shorter than the wings ; lateral lobes of arillus longer than the 

 middle lobe and almost half the length of the seed. Flowers rather large, pink, 

 blue, or rarely white. 



Hilly, grassy places, borders of pine-woods, etc. Commoner in Alpes-Marit. 

 than the Var. April-June. 



There are two distinct varieties of P. nicaeensis : 



Var. pubescens Burn. Flowers blue in a loose raceme. Stems spread- 

 ing ; leaves pubescent ; central nerve of the wings branched between the base 

 and its reunion with the lateral nerves. 



On the ridge between the Nervia and Roja valleys and elsewhere in the lower 

 mountains near Bordighera. 



Var. confusa Burn. = P. rosea Gren. et Godr. Flowers usually pink, rarely 

 blue. Stems more upright and rigid, leaves longer and narrower, glabrous or 

 glabrescent ; wings slightly mucronate, with the central nerve more or less 

 branched between the base and its reunion with the lateral nerves. 



Sandy ground in hilly districts, e.g. about Bordighera and San Remo, the 

 Maures, Montrieux, Esterel (near Fre"jus). 



P. vulgar is L. Common Milkwort. Bracts shorter than the flowers when 

 in bud ; nerves of the wings like those of P. pubescens and P. confusa ; lobes 

 of the arillus short as in P. comosa ; flowers blue, violet, pink, or white. Stems 

 leafy. Leaves oblong, upper ones lanceolate. Very variable plant. 



