ACCORDING TO SEASON 



The long-spurred violet, another species with 

 Long- leafy stems, as well as with pale lilac flowers that 

 vMO* are n °ticeably long spurred, is assigned by the 

 botanists to June and July, but it is on my May list 

 and I find it flowering with the other early species. 

 Perhaps the least showy of the group is the 

 Sweet sweet white violet. This attractive little plant 

 white violet g rows abundantly in our wet woods, permeating 

 the immediate neighborhood with its faint, sweet 

 fragrance. With it we find frequently the lance- 

 leaved species, bearing flowers that are similar to 

 V. blanda, but with erect, narrow leaves, quite 

 unlike the rounded, heart-shaped ones of its kins- 

 man. 



A strikingly handsome, and to me more unusual, 

 Bird's- member of the family is the bird's-foot violet. Its 

 blossom is velvety and pansy-like, often with one 

 or both of the upper petals of a darker shade. Its 

 leaves are deeply divided into narrow lobes. Be- 

 fore the Botanical Gardens came into being I used 

 to find it bordering the Bronx River. The nth 

 of May last, during a drive along the north shore 

 of Long Island, on the sandy banks by the road- 

 side, the more fresh and lovely because little else 

 seemed to flourish there, I saw it flowering in 

 abundance. 

 Garden A near relative of our wild violets, the garden 



pansy, occasionally strays beyond its garden 



60 



foot violet 



pansy 



