350 



THE VIOLET FAMILY. 



as March in North Carolina, and from there its range extends to the far 

 north. It is a rounded-leaved species, the leaves often three inches in diam- 

 eter, with crenate edges, and growing in mid-summer to their utmost size 

 as they lie flat on the ground. They are then very lustrous. The pale 

 yellow flowers which appear when the leaves are relatively small have 

 noticeably short spurs, and the lateral petals are bearded and veined with 

 brown. 



It is now conceded that it was this plant which inspired the poet Bryant 

 to write, " The Yellow Violet." 



V. blmida, sweet white violet, is very small, the whole plant being when 

 found on such high mountains slopes as Pisgah in North Carolina not over 

 two inches high and seldom under the most favourable circumstances, in 

 moist meadows or near swamps, raising itself higher than six inches. Its 

 white baby face with delicate veinings of purple is well known, as is also its 

 subtle fragrance. Quite of the conventional type are its leaves, orbicular 

 or reniform and deeply cordate at the bases. 



V. lanceoldta, lance-leaved violet, is one of the dainty little white violets 

 which we find among the grass of moist soil very early in the spring. Its 

 slender lanceolate leaves, tapering as they do into long petioles, serve 

 always as a mark for its identification, and the small white corolla delicately 

 lined with brown exhales a faint fragrance often not noticed in other 

 species. 



HALBERD=LEAVED YELLOW VIOLET. {Plate CXi:) 



Viola hast at a. 



FAMILY COLOUR ODOUR RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Violet. Bright yellow. Scentless. Alabama and North Carolina A/>ril^ May. 



to Pennsylvania and Ohio. 



Flowers: small, nodding from peduncles which grow from the upper axils of the 

 leaves. Lateral petals slightly bearded, the lowest one veined with purple. 

 Spur : short. Leaves : growing on the stem mostly near the summit and having 

 entire or sparingly toothed stipules ; halberd-shaped or hastate-ovate, acute; ir- 

 regularly dentate or repand. Slefu : six to twelve inches high. 



As can readily be seen from the illustration this violet is of the leafy- 

 stemmed type, and those that follow will also be of the same class. It is 

 found in woods or by the cool borders of streams in upland country, and 

 has lustrous, thin foliage veined with bronze. Often also the undersides of 

 its leaves are conspicuously of this colour. Botanically it is closely related 

 to Viola pubescens, the hairy yellow violet. 



V. Canadensis, Canada violet, one of the most notable of all the leafy- 

 stemmed violets, grows over an extended range and occurs frequently as tall 

 as fifteen inches. Its stem upholds broadly ovate leaves which taper at the 

 ^pex, are deeply cordate at the base and have moreover lanceolate stipules. 



