WILD FLOWERS BLUE AND PURPLE 
know this graceful, twining perennial as the Hog 
Peanut. It is found from New Brunswick to Florida, 
west to Lake Superior, Nebraska, and Louisiana. 
THE VIOLETS 
Violaceae. Violet Family. 
Violets are probably the best and most popularly 
known of all the wild flowers. The Latin name 
Viola, is derived from the classic Greek, Jon. Jupiter, 
we are told, fell in love with Io, the daughter of the 
river god, Inachus, and in order to conceal her from 
the jealousy of Juno, his wife, Jupiter changed Io into 
a heifer, and then created the fragrant Violet that she 
might feed upon the delicate petals during her trans- 
formation. So runs this ancient Greek myth regard- 
ing the origin of the Violet. Be this as it may, Jupiter 
must have considered the creation of the Violet with 
exceeding affection for Io, since his irony is revealed 
later in the lines of Shakespeare, who regarded the 
Violet “sweeter than the lids of Juno’s eyes.” The 
Violet became the national emblem of the Greeks. 
They wove it into the chaplets with which they 
crowned both the living and the dead, as occasion 
required. The flowers were used extensively for deco- 
rating on gay, festive and holiday celebrations, and 
they also served an equal purpose in times of grief 
and sorrow as a fitting tribute to the departed. There 
was a superstition among the Greeks that the Violet 
possessed a charm that could stay the ill-effects of 
excessive indulgence in wine. Wreaths of Violets 
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