THE VIOLET lAMlLV. ,^, 



347 



ARROW=LEAVED VIOLET. (/'/,;/, CA) 



V\ola sai^iltata. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE ximc ^c =. 



y.oUt. D..J>.lue. Faintly jr.,rani. 7-...sT,U,ror,i. ^'^-L^^ '.^.?°^ 



nort/iwarii. ' ^' 



Acanlesccnt flowers: nodding at the ends of long scapes. G/A-x • with five 

 hnear lanceolate sepals projected as ears at the base. Corolla :\\,\, five un 

 equally shaped petals, all bearded with the exception of the lower one which at the 

 base IS spurred. Stamens : five, short, connivent about the pistil. /.,„7rs- from 

 the base with long, shghlly pubescent or glabrous petioles, lanceolate-sagittate 

 pointed at the apex, entire, or crenate-dcntate and having the spreading^ basal' 

 lobes toothed or incised; glabrous; thin. ** 



The violets are very temperate. They like neither nuieh heat nor ijreat 

 cold btit seek to grow usually in retired places, well shaded and moist. 

 About them there is a look that makes a violet always a violet. There are. 

 however, many species among them, and almost every year greater stress is 

 being laid on their dissimilarities. A primary point to notice always is 

 whether they have the so-called leafy stems, or whether they belong to the 

 stemiessgroup,— that is whether the scapes and leaves all shoot up from the 

 base. The leaves of this species, so different from those of the common 

 violet, make it at once distinctive and interesting. It bears, moreover, and 

 very abundantly, cleistogamous flowers which arise on erect peduncles. 

 These apetalous little blossoms are most interesting to watch during a 

 season. They seem mostly to be produced when the days become too 

 warm for the showy flowers to bloom, and occasionally late in the autumn 

 we can see them by close watching transformed into the regular flowers 

 which we then regard as a second crop. 



V. palmata, early blue violet, commonly occurs through rich woodlands. 

 Its dark purple flowers are associated with large variously lobed. lanceolate, 

 ovate or oblong leaves, mostly crenate-dentate, or, when young, sometimes 

 entire. The plant is pubescent and belongs to the group of stemless vio- 

 lets. Its lateral petals are bearded. It is perhaps the one more jgenerally 

 known than any other as an inhabitant of upland woods. In the autumn 

 sometimes as late as November a second crop come forth, stretching thus 

 the sense of spring into the very palm of winter. These are the violets which 

 generally in parts of the south are called " little roosters," while the blossoms 

 of the bird's-foot violet are designated as " big roosters." Often the young 

 people take them as opponents and fight them in the way of game cocks 

 until one or the other has lost its head. 



V. ovdta. ovate-leaved violet, a rather low, hairy plant, is further charac- 



