VIOLA. 



den and Germany. A hardy perennial, flowering in .luly 

 and Auguft. Thejlemj are a foot high, leafy at the bottom 

 and top only, fmootli. Leaves two or three mches broad, 

 acute ; the radical, or lower, on very long ftalks ; the upper 

 on very fhort ones. ^itdica\J2oivers the fize of f^, ojorita, 

 light reddifli-purple, with a veiny lip : axillary ones about 

 the top of the ftem, on fhorter Jlalis, generally without 

 petaL, but alone, for the moll part, perfecting feed. The 

 bafe of the calyx-leaves in all is much dilated, abrupt, one- 

 third as long as the reft of the calyx. Capfule large, rigid, 

 veiny, fmooth. The fpecific name alludes to X-hv fruit being 

 produced by apparently {m-perieSi floivers , not, as De Theis 

 imagined, to their great fize or admirable beauty. Such a 

 circumflance in the frnftification of Violets occurs in feve- 

 ral other fpccies. 



38. V. hiflora. Two-flowered Yellow Violet. Linn. 

 Sp. PI. 1326. Willd. n. 21. Ait. n. 22. Fl. Dan. t. 46. 

 (V. flore hiteo ; Rivin. Pentap. Irr. t. 121. V. montana 

 prima; Cluf. Hilt. v. i. 309. V. alpina rotundifolia minor; 

 Pluk. Phyt. t. 233. f. 7. ) — Stem ereft, about two-flowered. 

 Leaves kidney-fhaped, ferrated, nearly fmooth. Stipulas 

 ovate, entire. — Native of the mountains of Lapland, Auf- 

 tria, Switzerland, and Savoy, but not of Britain. Some- 

 times kept, with other alpine plants, in pots, under a frame, 

 in our gardens, flowering in the ipring. This is a pretty 

 delicate fpecies, three or four inches high, allied to feveral 

 of the preceding, but perfeftly dillmft. The (lender fimple 

 Jlem bears three or four ftalked leaves, an inch or inch and 

 half in diameter ; and ufnally two diftant, axillary, flender- 

 ftalked, fmall, yellow flowers, whofe lip is ftreaked with 

 black. Bradeas minute, about the middle of each ftalk. 

 Calyx-haves fcarcely dilated or elongated, but rather gib- 

 bous, at the bafe. Capfule fmooth, rigid. Seeds few, 

 large. 



^(). V . unlflora. Siberian Yellow Violet. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 1327. Willd. n. 22. Ait. n. 23. ( V. n. 67 ; Gmel. Sib. 

 V. 4. 101. t. 48. f. 5. ) — Stem fingle-flowered, leafy at the 

 top only. Leaves heart-fliaped, toothed. — Native of Si- 

 beria. Said to have been cultivated in 1774, by the late 

 Mr. James Gordon ; but we prefume it would be as eafy to 

 find one of the artificial golden flowers of the ancient Mexi- 

 cans in our gardens at prefent, for its name does not even 

 appear in Mr. Donn's Cambridge catalogue. The root of 

 this rare and very curious fpecies is thread-fhaped, toothed, 

 perennial, with long fimple fibres. Herb about the fize and 

 habit of the Winter Aconite, Helleborus hyemalis, but ra- 

 ther downy, efpecially the Jlem. Leaves two or three, 

 crowded at the fummit of the llcm, on very fliort ftalks, 

 ovate or heart-ftiaped, an inch long, fcarcely downy, 

 coarfely toothed, with a blunt point ; their bafe entire. 

 Slipulas fmall, lanceolate, with glandular teeth. Flo-wers 

 yellow, larger than any of the prccedmg ; their petals 

 rounded, an inch long ; two lateral ones bearded at the 

 bafe. Calyx-leaves oblong, fomewhat heart-ftiaped .it their 

 infertion, but hardly dilated or elongated. Gmelin's figure 

 is very incorreft. 



40. V. deeumbens. Narrow-leaved Cape Violet. Linn. 



Suppl. 397. Willd. n. 23. Thunb. Prodr. 41 Stems 



procumbent, round. Leaves linear, crowded, acute, entire. 

 Calyx fmooth. Petals of nearly equal length. — Native of 

 the Cape of Good Hope. Stems fmooth, fomewhat branched, 

 rather fhrubby, a fpan long. Leaves nunuToufly crowded 

 about the ends of the branches, alternate, an inch and 

 half long, hardly a line broad ; tapering at the bafe, where 

 they are united to a pair of minute lanceolate ftipiilas. 

 Flowrr-Jlalks axillary, folitary on each branch, and rifing 

 above its fummit, twice the length of the leaves, Ikndtr, 



with two awl-ftiaped braStas about the middle. Flower 

 blue, far more like V. canina than tricdor, to which Lin- 

 iiiEus compares it ; but the calyx-leaves are very fliglitly 

 extended at the bafe. NeSary pale green. 



41. V . arborefeens. Shrubby Dwarf Violet. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 1325. Willd. n. 30. Ait. n. 30. {V. hifpanica fru- 

 ticans; Barri-1. Ic. t. 568.)— Stem afcending, flirubby, 

 branched. Leaves lanceolate, downy, entire. Calyx mi- 

 nutely fringed. Petals of nearly equal length Native of 



the fouth of Spain, about Conil and Tariffa, flowering in 

 February. Durand. A greenhoufe plant, cultivated by 

 the late Mr. Blackburne, in his rich garden at Orford, 

 Lancalhire, in 1779, as appears by his Catalogue; but 

 fcarcely now, probably, exiftmg in any colleftion. The root 

 IS long and woody, as are alio the Jlems, whofe extremities 

 terminate in many denfe, crowded, leafy branches. Leaves 

 refembling thofe of a Cheiraiilhus, more or lefs hoar)-, an 

 inch long, tapering down into (lender fooljalh, each accom- 

 panied by two longifli very mrrow Jlipulas. Flowers fome- 

 what like the laft, but the neSary is very ftiort, and calyx- 

 leaves more elongated at the bafe, each marked with three 

 ribs. Poflibly r. cheiranthifolia, Poiret in Lam. n. 43, 

 may not be diftinft from this. 



42. V. capenfis. Hoary Cape Violet. Thunb. Prodr. 40. 

 Willd. n. 29. — Stem flirubby, ereft, downy. Leaves obo- 

 vate, crenate, hoary. Calyx-leaves ovate, hairy. Lower 



petal abrupt, thrice as long as the reft Gathered at the 



Cape of Good Hope by Thunberg, from whom we have 

 an unnamed native fpecimen, which can belong to no other 

 fpecies. It is more or lefs downy in every part, efpecially 

 ihefoiver-Jlalks, and calyx, which is not at all extended at the 

 bafe. Leaves alternate, ftalked, an inch long. Slipulas ex- 

 tremely minute, lanceolate. This is one of thofe fpecies 

 of which the lower petal, or lip, is fo much extended, 

 or rather the other four petals fo diminilhed, as to have a 

 very peculiar afpeft ; added to which, the bafe of the calyx 

 is quite fimple, not protrafted beyond the infertion. Such 

 fpecies have given occafion to the late M. Ventenat to 

 cftablifh his genus lonidium, in Jard. de la Malmaif. t. 27, 

 of wl'.ich the diftinftive charafters are, the want of a fpur 

 to the corolla', and of appendages, or elongations, to the 

 calyx-leaves. Thcfe charadlers flionld fecm to indicate a 

 diftinft genus from Viola ; but there are fo many grada- 

 tions, fome of which we have noted in their proper places, 

 with refpeft to the calyx, and no lefs with regard to the 

 nciiary, that we cannot rely on cither part ; efpecially as 

 the habit does not always concur with thefe differences. 

 Several of the fuppofed fpecies of lonidium have as cvideut 

 a fpur, though fhort, as any Viola. Their caUx, it mull 

 be allowed, is more conftant, but feveral undoubted VioU 

 have as little of a projeftion there. Ventenat was, moreover, 

 but imperfedlly convcrfant with the fpecies of his fuppofed 

 genus, as will appear in the courfe of our hillory of them. 



43. \ . buxifolia. Box-leaved Madagafcar Violet. Poiret 

 in Lam. n. 56. { lonidium biixifolium ; Venten. Malmaif. 

 under t. 27. ) — Stems afcending, fmooth, herbaceous. Leaves 

 obovate, fmooth, revolute, entire. Calyx-leaves ovate, 

 naked. Lower petal abrupt, twice as long as the reft. — 

 Gathered by Commerfon in Madagafcar. jhoiiin. Allied 

 very nearly to the laft, but fmooth, and lefs Ihriibby. The 

 leaves are rather fmaller, and greatly refemble Bov, or rather 

 Polynala Chamxbuxus. The root is woody. Stems fix 

 inches long, fprcading every way, leafy, fcarcely branched. 

 Stipulas iniiuite, awl-fliaped. Floiver-Jl.ills twice the length 

 of thi- leaves, with two fmall awl (li.ipcd brafleas towards 

 the top. Calyx-leaves broad at the bale, elpecially the two 

 lowermoft, which have membranous edges, and embrace the 



rounded 



