84 AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 



fine stores of material and notes botanical which lie in their places 

 and wait. One thing, however, I must offer in connection with 

 Mr. Pollard and the Viola ohliqua matter. It was after I had 

 so denounced the Hill figure of the Hortus Kewensis that there 

 came into my possession that most priceless of American uniques, 

 Le Conte's unpublished plates of violets and bladderworts. In 

 this I saw that that author's representation of his I', affinis there 

 was that in its leaf-outline which brought it nearer to that of 

 V. obliqua, Hill, than was my own " V. ohliqua, Hill?", that is, 

 what afterwards became V. communis, Pollard. Here, then, 

 was a plant that could with less doubt be identified with V. obliqua 

 of the Hortus Kewensis; though still there would be doubt enough 

 about it; at least, so I thought. 



I must here interrupt the story of the suppression of V. 

 affinis, Le Conte by Mr. Pollard in favor of V. obliqua, in order to 

 relate how I came to recognize V. affinis myself. 



When, at the end of my very first season's recreating in Eastern 

 botany, mostly done in the valleys of the Potomac and Patapsso 

 rivers, I had made those two segregates, " V. obliqtia, Hill?" and 

 " V. cucullata, Aiton?" of the Third Volume of Pittonia, I had 

 already recognized what I conceived to be two ecological con- 

 ditions of my V. ohliqua, the less common plant was found only 

 in deeper shades, in moist ground. It had a more elongated 

 and acute, as well as much thinner foliage; also a somewhat 

 different apetalous flowering and fruiting. Most — though not 

 all — of this plant of the long thin foliage was afterwards my V. 

 affinis; but I let two more seasons pass, with their opportunities 

 for more research, before I ventured to segregate it finally. I 

 had quite to my satisfaction identified it by Le Conte's description 

 quite anterior to the time when I first saw the unpublished figure 

 referred to; and that only confirmed my earlier determination 

 of it. 



Now on the arrival in Washington of the Le Conte botanical 

 art treasure, as my property, I called Mr. Pollard's attention 

 to those longer and more pointed leaves of this plant, as bringing 

 it nearer than any other of our violets to the poor figure of Hill's 

 V. ohliqua. I recall that Mr. Pollard more than once came back 

 to study that particular plate, and finally to make of me the 

 remarkable request — I do not like to use the less mild term au- 

 dacious in connection with an old and valued friend — that he 



