VIOLET FAMILY 



VIOLACEAE 



BIRDFOOT VIOLET 



Viola pedata L. 



In some parts of the world there are shrubs and even 

 trees that belong to the Violet family, but our Violets are 

 all herbaceous plants, of which only cultivated Pansies 



are economically important. 

 The many Violets, some 

 white, some yellow and 

 some blue, are much alike 

 and sometimes not readily 

 distinguished. Cross-polli- 

 nation and the resultant 

 forming of hybrids compli- 

 cates attempts to find 

 specific types. 



The Violets may be con- 

 veniently divided into two 

 groups, one comprising the 

 species with leafy stems and 

 the other those species in 

 which the stem is under- 

 ground and the leaves and flower stalks appear to be 

 growing directly from the ground. 



This species, rivaling the cultivated Pansy, is one of the most 

 beautiful of our wild Violets. It is not as common here as it 

 is farther east, Massachusetts and southwestward, but it is 

 locally abundant in dry or sandy fields and hillsides and in open 

 woods. 



The underground stem is short, stout and erect, and from 

 it are given off the heavy fibrous roots. The leaves, as shown, 

 are cleft into segments resembling the claws of a bird, and give 

 the plant its common name. 



The Birdfoot Violet blooms in May and June and sometimes 

 produces a few flowers again in late summer or autumn. The 

 typical flower has the 2 upper petals dark violet and the 3 lower 

 lilac-purple with dark veins, but the common Illinois form has 

 all 5 petals lilac-purple. The orange tips of the stamens are 

 large and conspicuous in the center of the flower. The pods are 

 smooth and green, and the seeds are copperish. 



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