FAMILIES OF FLOWERING PLANTS 183 
ral groups which have been by some authors advanced to generic rank. 
For example, we have in America the beautiful bird’s-foot violets, which 
are distinguished by their finely divided foliage, very short and trun- 
cate rootstocks, and the large beakless stigma. This includes the 
handsome prairie violet of the West, and the striking pansy violet so 
common in Maryland and Virginia but rare elsewhere. In general the 
genus may be roughly separated into two divisions: those with leafy 
stems, and those which are scapose, +. ¢., in which the leaves and flow- 
ers seem to spring directly from the root. In Fig. 162 we have repre- 
sentatives of several of these types displayed. 
The pansy (V. tricolor) has been for so long a time in cultivation that 
the range of color and markings is wonderful. These markings are apt 
Fig. 163. Flowering branch of Casearia sylvestris, with detached enlarged flower of C, fomentosa. 
Redrawn from Engler. ; 
to assume certain definite patterns, so that horticulturalists speak of 
the various “strains” of the pansy. The foliage is quite distinctive on 
account of the large stipules. In this country we have only one mem- 
ber of the group, the little annual white violet (V. Rafinesquit), but in 
Europe a large number of species closely related to V. tricolor have 
been described. ; 
The perfume of the violet has always been highly esteemed, and is 
most prominent in the cultivated forms of V. odorata, although some of 
our native species are faintly sweet-scented. 
