VIOLET FAMILY. Violaceae. 



VIOLET FAMILY. Violacece. 



A small faraih' of generally low herbs with perfect, 

 but rather irregular flowers of five petals, the lowest of 

 which is spurred. There are five perfect stamens whose 

 anthers turn inward and lie touching each other around 

 the pistil. It is a family of nectar-yielding flowers com- 

 monly visited by man}' species of bees and a few butter- 

 flies, and cross-fertilization is effected by their assistance 

 and by structural contrivances. The name is Latin. 



_ . A beautiful violet, very common in the 



Bird-foot , „ , ' / . , t 



Yjjjjg^ southeast part of Massachusetts, mcluding 



Viola x)edata the Island of Nantucket. The plant is gen- 

 Light violet erall}' smooth and tufted : the leaves, dull 

 **^* . pale green, are cut into 3-5 segments, three 



of which are again cut and toothed, so 

 that the average leaf possesses nine distinct points, or 

 more. The pale blue-violet or lilac flowers, larger than 

 those of any other species, are often an inch long. In 

 the var. bicolor the two upper petals are deep purple : 

 this form is found from Mass. to Md. and 111. : it is com- 

 mon in the latter State. But the most familiar tint of 

 the common Bird-foot Violet is blue-violet, more or less 

 dilute, and never bine. Rarely there are white flowers. 

 The lower, spurred petal is grooved, and partly white 

 veined with violet ; the throat of the flower is obstructed 

 with the orange anthers and the style, which bar the 

 way to the nectar in the spur. The useful visitors which 

 effect cross-fertilization are naturally long-tongued in- 

 sects ; among them are the ever-present yellow butterfly 

 {Colias philodice), and the bumblebees, Bonibus virginl- 

 cus, and B. pennsylv aniens. 4-10 inches high. In dry 

 sandy fields. Me., south, and west to Minn., S. Dak., 

 and Mo. Found in the Middlesex Fells, Mass. 



A very common species, generally 



lo a pa ma a ^^^^qq^Xi, but sometimes fine-hairv, with 

 April-May ' ' , 



heart-shaped or longer, deep green leaves. 



deeply lobed or cut especially on the sides. Flowers 



smaller, and bright light violet, or rarely white. Dry 



ground, mostly woodlands, from Me., south to Ga., and 



west to Minn. , Neb. , and Ark. 



276 



