IDioIet Jfamilp. 



Sand Violet. Viola pedata. 



Bird-Foot Violet. 



Found in May (later than the Meadow Violet) on dry banks and 



gravelly soil. 



The leaves and flowers rise from the root on slender stems. 



The leaf is deeply divided into 3 or 5 narrow and long parts, 

 which are sometimes again cleft into 2 or 3 segments ; the middle parts 

 are notched by 2 or 3 rounding scallops, the side parts being shorter, 

 with taper-pointed tips ; the ribs show obscurely, the texture is thick- 

 'ish, and the surface is dull above and shining underneath; the color 

 is a dull green. The leaves, on half -rounding stems, that are a darker- 

 hued green than the leaves, spread widely. The early spring leaves 

 are less often divided. 



This is the largest of the Violet flowers, with 5 flat petals, the 

 upper ones curling backwards on the stem, and a small, very flat spur ; 

 the texture is fine and close, and the color varies from deep red-violet 

 to pale lavender, with a dash of white at the base of the lower petals, 

 just beneath the green-tipped pistil, and dry tawny-orange stamens ; 

 the 5-parted calyx is pale green. The flowers are set on large shining, 

 smooth stems, which bear a little pair of wings near the ground. 



The Bird-Foot Violet flower does not droop, or nod, but holds 

 itself out at an angle almost parallel with the stem; its bud shows 

 white, and generally the paler lavender tints prevail in the full-blown 

 flowers. Many folk-names are given this plant, which grows in little 

 clumps and sometimes thickly spreads all over a favorably located 

 saad-barren,— it is often found in' burnt-over fields, and stump-lots. 

 Its flowering season is not so long as many others of its family and 

 as observed, it seldom blooms again in the autumn. ' 



74 



