HARPER'S GUIDE To WILD FLOWERS 



Ordinary flowers white, larger than the last, the lower and side 

 petals sometimes streaked with purple or crimson. Leaves, all 

 from the root, on very long petioles, with lance-shaped blades, 

 finely serrate. April to June. 



Erect, 2 to 6 inches high, in wet meadows, bogs, and on 

 banks of streams. Maine to Minnesota and southward. 



V. blanda. — Upper petals long and narrow, twisted backward. 

 Leaves, broad, roundish, heart-shaped at base, on long petioles, 

 their midribs often tinted with red. Slender, leafy runners are 

 produced in summer, after the blossoming season is over. 



This is one of our smallest violets, and, on account of its 

 faint, sweet scent, one of our dearest. We all know the 

 mossy, damp place in which it can be found in April and 

 May, and one of our earliest spring walks is directed thither. 

 (See illustration, p. 93.) 



Primrose-leaved Violet 



V. primuUfblia.— X white species in which the petals or some 

 of them are purple-veined. Leaves differ from the two last, being 

 long-petioled, broader than V. lanceolata, narrower than V. blanda, 

 and not heart-shaped. Leaf - blades ovate or oval, running 

 gradually down to the petioles. Found in drier soil, but often 

 preferring moist ground. Leafy runners also grow from this 

 species. April to June. 



The above four species belong to the stemless violets, in 

 which leaves and flower-scape spring from long, slender root- 

 stocks, New York to Florida. 



Pale or Striped Violet 



V. striata.. — Color, white or cream, with purple lines upon the 

 petals. The stems are leafy, heart-shaped at base, on long petioles, 

 the lower having longer petioles than blades, all acute at apex. 

 Prominent stipules much cut and toothed, or fringed. 6 to 18 

 inches high. April to June. 



An early and late bloomer, found in low woods and moist 

 meadows from New England to Georgia. 



Loosestrife 



Lythrum lineare. — Family, Loosestrife. The flowers of Lythrum 

 are dimorphous, that is, have stamens and pistils of different lengths, 

 so that self-pollination is prevented. This is a large and bushy 

 plant, with slender s! ems, small leaves, and single flowers in the 

 upper axils. Petals, 5 to 7. Calyx, tubular, 5 l<» 7 -toothed, with 

 little processes between the teeth. Stamens joined to the calyx, 



96 



