VIOLET FAMILY. 



Viola canadensis passes through various grades of 

 purple to a decided magenta pink. There are also simi- 

 lar pink phases of Viola pedata, but the color never 

 seems to be constant. 



P I v i t ^ handsome, somewhat western species, 



Viola striata with smooth, straight sterns, and deep dull 

 White or pale green, heart-shaped leaves, finely scallop- 

 lavender toothed, and more or less curled at the 

 April-May base when young, the tips acute. The 

 moderately large flowers white, cream-colored, or very 

 pale lavender, the lateral petals bearded, the lower one 

 thickly striped with purple veins, and broad. The 

 flower-stalk exceedingly long. The stigma of the flower 

 projects far beyond the anthers, so self-fertilization is 

 impracticable ; among the xiiost frequent visitors (ac- 

 cording to Prof. Robertson) are the bees of the genus 

 Andrena, and the small bees, Osmia albiventris and 

 Halictus coriaceus. Colias philodice, the butterfly who 

 "puts a finger in everyone's pie," is also an occasional 

 visitor. 6-16 inches high. In moist woods and fields 

 from western New Eng., to Minn., and Mo., and south 

 along the Alleghanies to Ga. 



A low creeping violet ; the light green 

 Vio l a stems with many toothed stipules (leafy 



conspersa formations at the angles of the stems), 



Light purple a nd small round heart-shaped yellow-green 

 April-June leaves, obscurely scalloped, and not pointed 

 at the tip. The pale purple or violet flowers are small, 

 with the side petals slightly bearded, and the lower petal 

 purple-veined and long-spurred. Rarely the flowers are 

 white. The seeds are straw-color. 2-6 inches high. 

 Visited by the small bees of the genus Halictus. Common 

 in wet woodlands and along shady roadsides, from east- 

 ern Que., west to Minn., and southwest. Viola arenaria 

 is characteristically fine-hairy, the leaves are ovate and 

 small, and the stipules are deeply toothed ; the flower 

 spur is generally blunt and straight, though occasionally 

 it is abruptly bent inward. The cleistogamous flowers 

 and the seed capsules are borne in abundance ; seeds 

 brown. In sandy soil from Mass., west to Minn., and 

 northwest. 



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