﻿82 PLANTS PRATTENIAN^ CALIFORNIA. 



VIOLACE^E. 



VIOLA Beckwithii, Torr.'s MSS. for Beckwith's report, " subcaulescens, ad- 

 scendens, caule abbreviate ; foliis caulinaribus biternatis vel palmati-sectis, decur- 

 rentibus, lobis vel segmentis oblonge-linearibus, hirsutis, pubescentibus ; stipulis 

 minutis, scariosis, integris; sepalis linearibus obtusis, ciliolatis, petalo infimo ad basim 

 remisse saccato, purpureo, ad unguiculum luteo, 2 superioribus brevioribus dense 

 violaceis." 



Pratten's plant, although evidently the same as V. Beckwithii, differs slightly from 

 the above description. It has but a few pentagonal reniform leaves on long margined 

 petioles ; these leaves are 3-divided, or pedately parted with cuneiform 2 — 3 cleft 

 elliptico-linear segments ; stipules small, membranaceous, fimbriate ; two very minute 

 bracts about the middle of the peduncle ; flowers rather small, on peduncles shorter 

 than the petioles; sepals linear-lanceolate, spur scarcely any ; stigma orbicular oblique, 

 fringed with short hairs. In shady and marshy woods. April. 



VIOLA lobata, Benth. PI. Hartw. p. 298. " Glabra, caulibus adscendentibus ; 

 stipulis late ovatis, dentatis ; foliis latisovatis subreniformibusve, regulariter palmatim 

 3 — 7 lobis. Sepalis lanceolatis acutis, corollge calcare brevi sacciforme." 



" Rhizoma short, ascending. Stems half a foot high. Inferior stipules two lines 

 wide and auriculate at the base, the superior ones narrower acute. The lower leaves are 

 more wide than long, on long petioles, with lobes ovate or oblong, obtuse or acute, and 

 mostly divided above the middle of the lamina ; the upper leaves are generally trifid, 

 with the middle lobe larger than the others, on peduncles about two inches long, pro- 

 vided, above the middle, with two small approximate or distant bracteoles. Flowers 

 yellow ? petals beardless. The appendices of the anthers very unequal ; the superior 

 a little shorter than the anther itself, the inferior very short. Style clavate, incurved, 

 with an oblique stigma, and ciliate with retrorse hairs under the stigmatose part." 



In my specimens the stems are striate, branching, eight inches long. The leaves 

 are strongly veined, the inferior glabrous, cordate, palmately divided from about the 

 middle, with lanceolate lobes; the upper are pubescent-scabrous, ovate-rhomboid, 

 with lateral dentiform lobes. The stipules are foliaceous, broadly-oblong, mucronate- 

 dentate, or entire and lobed, attaining towards the middle of the stem twice the 

 length of the petioles. The flowers are numerous, on rather short peduncles, each 

 having two small bracts, distant or approximate, above the middle. Petals apparently 

 Muish in my specimens, obovate, twice the length of the sepals ; lateral ones some- 

 what bearded at the claw ; spur wide and saccate ; style incurved, ciliate with retrorse 

 hairs under the oblique stigma. Capsule ovate. Shady woods. May. 



V. pr^morsa, Dougl. in Torr. and Gr. Fl. Am. vol. i. p. 141. 



V. longipes, Nutt. in Torr. and Gr. Fl. Am. vol. i. p. 140. 



