VIOLACE^E VIOLET FAMILY 



Viola lanceolata, L. 



White 



Lance-leaved Violet. 

 April- June 



Viola: ancient Latin name. 



Lanceolata: Latin, denoting lance-shaped. 



THE PREFERRED HABITAT: swampy ground. 



THE PLANT: erect; bearing numerous runners especially 

 late in the season, these runners rooting at the nodes; all 

 the flower-stems about two inches to six inches high, red- 

 dish, often without hairs. 



THE LEAVES: basal; erect; lanceolate or elliptical, some- 

 times three inches to six inches long; sometimes acute but 

 tending to obtuse at the apex; at the base gradually taper- 

 ing into the long petiole, which is often reddish with 

 obscure, red-tipped teeth. 



THE FLOWERS: small, solitary on long stems, which equal 

 or outdistance the leaves; of the five petals, two are upright, 

 the lower three spreading, the three, especially the middle 

 one, veined with purple; the calyx blotched with red; the 

 sepals lanceolate, tapering to a point at the apex. 



THE FRUIT: a capsule. Those of the cleistogamous flow- 

 ers (complete flowers that never fully open) nodding on 

 short peduncles. 



A dainty white violet, poised on a leafless and slender 

 stem and almost outdistanced by a cluster of lance-shaped 

 leaves, that rise directly from the root. It is not so well 

 known, though, when the green seed vessel has appeared 

 or, burst open, still hangs in mid-air. 

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