182 FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS 
nial herbs. The genus Viola far outnumbers other members of the 
family, having nearly 200 species, about equally divided between the 
Old and the New World. Without possessing any claims to showiness, 
the violet is one of the most attractive as well as artistic flowers to be 
found throughout the whole range of seed plants. Before discussing 
the distinct types of habit and floral structure, let us examine the char- 
acters of the Violet Family. They have leaves provided with stipules 
(leafy bracts) at the base, and solitary or clustered irregular flowers. 
The sepals are 5; the corolla also consists of 5 petals, the lower one of 
which is nswally much larger and differently shaped, or else provided 
Fig. 161. Flower and fruit of Bixa Orellana, considerably reduceg. Original. 
with a spur. A twist in the peduncle causes this petal frequently to 
appear uppermost. There are 5 stamens, the anthers being more or 
less united into aring. The ovary is 1-celled, with 3 placentae or par- 
titions, developing into a 3-valved capsule. 
We may dismiss most of the genera with brief consideration. Cu- 
belium, the so-called green violet of our Atlantic States, does not afford 
a hint of its relationship in its coarse foliage and upright stems; but the 
tiny flowers scattered along the latter are decidedly suggestive of un- 
dersized and starved violet blooms. Calceolaria is a herb of the south- 
west and the tropics, the flowers of which are also inconspicuous. 
Probably there is no other genus of flowering plants in which the 
divisions are so well marked as in Viola, and the species fall into natu- 
