VIOLA TRICOLOR-PANSY. 



CLASS, PENTANDRIA ; ORDER, MONOGYNIA. 

 NATURAL ORDER, VIOLACE^E. 



GEN. CHAR. Calyx, five leaved. Corolla, five petalled, 

 irregular, horned at the back. Anthers cohering. Capsules 

 superior, one celled, one valved. SPEC. CHAR. Stem angulai, 

 divided. Leaves oblong, deeply scolloped. Stipules lyre shaped. 



We have many sweet species of Violet in the United States, 

 but this beautiful and well known exotic excels them all. Its 

 variable tints, it has been remarked, are scarce less numerous than 

 the names that have been bestowed upon it. That of Pansy is a cor- 

 ruption of the French name pensec, though in floral language it is 

 adopted by them as the FORGET-ME-NOT. Nature sports as much 

 with the colors of this little flower as she does with the features of 

 the human countenance, and you may as well seek for two faces 

 alike, as hunt for Pansies of the same tint. The most brilliant, pur- 

 ples of the artist, appear dull when compared to that of the Pansy, 

 our richest satins .and velvets, coarse and unsightly by a compa- 

 rison of texture; and as to delicacy of shading, it is scarcely 

 surpassed by the bow of Iris itself. When seen individually the 

 flower must be noticed with admiration, yet it is not calculated to 

 make a figure in the garden unless planted in large clumps ; but 

 when a considerable plot of rising ground is covered with these 

 flowers, the appearance cannot be equalled by the finest artificers 



