VIOLACE^ 91 



thrives in half-shade, especially among damp boulders and under 

 dripping rocks or in shallow caves. 

 Viola calcarata L. (Plate VII.) 



Leaves crenate, ovate, the upper ones lanceolate. Stipules entire, 

 tripartite, or pinnatifid. Stem i-flowered, erect, 3 inches or more 

 in height. Flowers at least an inch in diameter, usually violet-blue, 

 rarely yellow or white. Spur as long as corolla, i.e. at least f inch, 

 and so long and narrow that only butterflies with a sufficiently long 

 proboscis can penetrate as far as the nectar at its extremity. Plant 

 glabrous, branched, and leafy at the base, with creeping runners. 



Alpine pastures from 5000-9000 feet, often so abundant as to 

 form a carpet of violet-blue. June, July. 



Distribution. — Eastern, Central, and Western Alps, Jura, 

 Apennines, Central and Southern Europe from Bavaria to Sicily 

 and Greece. 



Viola lutea Hudson. 



Stem usually simple, ascending, leafy. Leaves crenate, the 

 lower ones ovate-cordate or ovate-lanceolate, upper ones lanceolate. 

 Stipules palmate-multifid, with linear or linear-oblong lobes. Spur 

 scarcely longer than the auricles of the sepals. Flowers yellow, 

 more rarely violet or yellow and violet. 



Alpine and sub-alpine pastures (limestone and schist) up to 7500 

 feet. May to July. 



Distribution. — Carpathians, Erzgebirge, Eastern, Central, and 

 Western Alps ; rare in the Pyrenees. British. 



Viola valderia All. 



Stem 6-10 inches high, spreading. Leaves small, the lower 

 broadly ovate, the upper oblong or elliptic-lanceolate, mostly entire. 

 Stipules multifid, with 2-7 unequal lobes. Flowers rather large, 

 usually pale violet but variable. " The lateral and lower petals have 

 a pencilled purple dash and beard at their junction, which gives 

 intelligence to the expression of the soft lavender flowers, with their 

 deUcate golden eyes " (Reginald Farrer in Gard. Chron., July 23rd, 

 1910). Flowers longly petioled. Sepals lanceolate-acute. Capsule 

 oval, pointed, equalling the calyx. 



Sandy, stony slopes and screes at 4000-5000 feet ; rare. April 

 to July. 



Distribution. — Peculiar to a few places in the French and Italian 

 Maritime Alps, and the mountains of Liguria on the east side of the 

 Col di Tenda. 

 Viola cornuta L. 



Root fibrous. Stem ascending, leafy. Leaves rounded, crenate, 

 ciliate ; upper leaves oval-cordate or truncate at the base. Stipules 

 large, obliquely cordate, incised-dentate, ciliate. Sepals subulate. 

 Spur subulate, larger than the calyx. Capsule obtuse. 



