VIOLA. 



inch broad, with copious awl-(haped radical Jiipulas. Each 

 tuft bears one foiuer-JlaH, three inches hig!i, with two awl- 

 fhaped Iradeas towards the middle, and one fniall ercil 

 Jlo<wer, the fizc of l^, pnlvflr'n, whofe two lateral petals are 

 villous near the bafe. The calyx-ltaves projeft but very little 

 at the bafe, which is the rale with our fpccunens above- 

 mentioned, from New South Wales, and indeed with V. 

 paluflrh and blanda. Yet they all have enough of that 

 charafter to prove them true Violee. 



24. V. odorata. Sweet Violet. Linn. Sp. PI. 1324. 

 Willd. n. 12. FI. Brit. n. 2. Engl. Bot. t. 619. Curt. 

 Lond. fafc. i. t. 63. Fl. Dan. t. 309. Bulliard t. 169. 

 Renealm. Spec. 141. t. 140. (V. nigra, five purpurea; 

 Ger. Em. 8?o. V. purpurea; Matth. Valgr. v. 2. 522. 

 Camer. Epit. 910. ) — Scyons creeping. Leaves heart -fliaped, 

 crenate, fmoothifh as well as the footllalks. Calyx obtufe. 

 Two lateral petals with a hairy line. — Native of thickets, 

 groves, and banks, throughout Europe, from Sweden to 

 Greece, flowering in March. It appears, by Dr. Muhlen- 

 berg's catalogue, to be cultivated, not wild, in North Ame- 

 rica. There can be no doubt of this being the io» ■jvr.f . i^tov 

 of Diofcorides, who fpeaks of the ivy-like leaves, and very 

 fweet-fcented ^ur^XeJlomers, which he recommends for fore 

 throats, and for children in the faUing-ficknefs ; hence fyrup 

 of violets is ftill kept in the (hops. The long trailing leafy 

 runners, by which the plant is widely increafed, charafterize 

 this fpecies. Thefe feldom he-ir Jloiuers till the fccojid year. 

 Leaves truly he.irt-{haped, dark green ; (lightly downy be- 

 neath. Sitpulas lanceolate, toothed, pale. Floiver-Jlalls 

 taller than the leaves, with two lanceolate narrow bra3eas, 

 more than half way up. Flower nodding, twice the fize of 

 !^. palujlris, and about equal to that of hirta, whofe fcent 

 refembles Orrice-root, or the flowers of Mignonette, or the 

 Vine, and indeed is too generally known and efteemed to re- 

 quire defcription. The colour is that dark purpli(h-blue, 

 peculiarly called a •violet colour. There is a white variety, 

 frequently found wild ; and a very double one cultivated in 

 gardens, which requires a pure air. Whether the more early 

 pale grey, and very fweet double Violet, be a variety, or a 

 diftinft fpecies, we have had no opportunity of enquiring. 

 Thejlamens of y. odorata are quite dillinft. Capfule foft, pale 

 (Treen, minutely dotted with red, like an unripe Cranberry. 

 Leers, in his Fl. Herborn. 189, mentions having once found 

 a curious flower of this fpecies which had live regular ^c/a/j-, 

 all fpurred, refembling the neftaries of an ylquilegia, ftrippcd 

 of its own petals. This was, as he fays, an indance of Pelo- 

 RIA in Viola; fee that article. The petals are often want- 

 ing in our wild, as well as garden, Violets. 



25. V.pyrenaica. Pyrcnean Violet. " Decand. Franc. 

 V. 4. 803." Poirct in Lam. n. 19 — Leaves (lightly heart- 

 Ihapcd, crenate, fmooth. Footllalks dilated at the fimi- 

 mit. Calyx obtufe. Spur very fliort. — Found by M. Ra- 

 mond, on thv- Pyrenee.s, in (lony ground. Perennial. This 

 is faid to differ from /'''. odorata in having more woody roots, 

 without runners. Slipulas greener, and narrower. Leaves 

 fcarcely heart-fhaped. Netlary fliortcr, (Iraighter and more 

 obtufe. Flowers fmaller, lefs fragrant, the lip more 

 ilrongly radiated. Decandolle and Poiret. 



Sea. 2. ll^itlj Lafyjkms. 



26. V. canitLi. Dog's Violet. Linn. Sp. PI. 1324. 

 Willd. n. 13. Fl. Brit. n.4. Engl. Bot. t. 620. Curt. 

 Lond. fafc. 2. t. 61. I V. canina fylvedris ; Ger. Em. 851. 

 V. canina cserulea inodora fylvedris ferotina ; Lob. Ic. v. i. 

 609. V. inodora major ; Rivin. Pentap. Irr. t. I19.) — 

 Stem at lengtli afcending, channelled. Leaves oblong- 

 heart(haped. Calyx acute. Slipulas ferratrd — Even more 

 tommon throughout Europe than the Sweet Violet, bcjjig 



as abundant in Greece, and its neighbouring iflands and 

 mountains, as it is in England or Sweden, flowering from 

 April throughout mod part of the fummer, when every 

 thicket, grove, bank, and barren heath abounds with its pale 

 purple itentlels blofloms. The root is woodv, ihouo-h (len- 

 der. The fird Jloixiers are radical ; but fcvei al branched, 

 angular or furrowed, fmooth, leafy Jlems (oon Ipring forth, 

 extremely variable in length, directioi., and luxuriance, 

 which continue growing, and bearing numerous, axillary, 

 ftalkcd^t/Wtrj-, for feveral weeks. The leaves vary no lefs 

 in fize, and fomewhat in figure, but are always crenate, 

 fmooth, heart-(haped ; more or k fa oblong. /"oa//ia//j (lightly 

 dilated upwards- i'/i/'u/at not very deeply toothed. BraHeas 

 above the middle oi l\xe Jloiver-jlalks. Capfule ir.ore oblong 

 than in the V. odorata. See a fpecies nearly related per- 

 haps to tiiis at n. 63. 



Several varieties are mentioned by authors. That with a 

 •w\\\te Jloiver is lefs frequent than in V. odorata. Can this 

 be V. negleBa of the Fl. Taur.-Caucaf. v. i. 172 ? The y 

 of Fl. Brit., found by M. Du Bois about Mitcham, is 

 fmaller in all its parts, and faid by Dillenius to have a yel- 

 lowifh, not a whitilh fpur, a very triflmg dilFerence indeed ! 

 We have in Norfolk a diminutive, though truly (hrubby 

 plant, fird noticed by the late Mr. Crowe, in which we can- 

 not difcern any fpecific diflerence from V. canina, except 

 fize, and perhaps a thicker texture of leaf. Yet it has re- 

 mained unchanged in a garden, where the foil is manured, 

 for above twelve years. This cannot be the '0 of Fl. Brit. 

 (V. alpina ; Hndi. ed. I. 379. V. martia alpina, folio 

 tenello circinato ; Rail Sjn. 366.) The leav.s are exaftly 

 heart-(haped, obtufe, fmooth, coriaceous, minutely crenate. 

 Flowers like canina, but not half fo large. V . jarmentoja, 

 Fl. Taur.-Caucai. v. i. 172, we have not Icen, and there- 

 fore mud leave it in doubt. 



27. V. laBea. Cream-coloured Violet. Fl. Brit. n. 5. 

 Engl. Bot. t. 445. Alt. n. 15. (V. canina, var. 3 ; With. 

 262. V. Ruppii ; AUion. Ped. v. 2. 99. t. 26. f. 6. V. 

 flore albo ; Rivin. Pentap. Irr. t. 120.) — Stem afcending, 

 round. Leaves ovato-lanceolate. Stipulas deeply ferrated. 

 — Native of moid rather mountainous heaths, in the fouth 

 of England. Mr. T. F. Forller found it firlt on the wolds 

 at Tunbridge ; Mr. Stackhoufe at Pendarvis, Cornv/al]. 

 M. Reynier gathered fpecimens, now before us, in the bogs 

 of Switzerland, but rarely, and he has indicated Rivinus's 

 figure, which, though taller and larger, refembles our plant. 

 Neverthelefs we much doubt the permanency of the Ipecies, 

 and were only led by the great authority, in this genus, of 

 our friend Mr. Forder, to adopt it. The whole plant is 

 fmaller than the ordinary canina, but the chief diflerence 

 confids in the leaves being lanceolate or ovate, decurrcnt at 

 the bafe, not heart-(haped. 'Y\v: Jiipulas are fuppoted to be 

 more deeply cut, and braHeas broader. T\k petals are nar- 

 rower than in canina, obtufe, whitifli, dreaked with purple 

 lines exaftly like canina. They even vary often to a light 

 blue. 



28. V. montana. Long-leaved Mountain Violet. Linn. 

 Sp. Fl. 1335. Willd. n. 14. Ait. n. 16. ( V. flore ciruleo 

 longifolia ; Rivin. Pentap. Irr. t. 121. V. allurgens tri- 

 color; Ger. Em. ^54. V. arborefcens ; Camer. Epit. 911. 

 Matlh. Valgr. v. z. 523, bad. V. ereCta, flore ca:ruleo 

 et albo ; Morif. feft. 5. I. 7. f. 7.) — Stems crecf. Leaves 

 ovate-oblong, foniewiiat hearl-fliapcd. Stipnias pinnatifid 

 at one fide. — Native of the mountains of Lapland, Ger- 

 many, Switzerland, and the north of Italy ; a hardy pe- 

 rennial in our gardens, flowering in May and June. The 

 name of arborefcens, given iird by Mailhiolus, has been 

 judly thought abfurd. The mimcrous_//<./nj are herbaceous 

 o and 



