VIOLA. 



like lliofe of a rofe or bramble,_ though hitherto unnoticed, 

 afford a moll flriking and clear cliaratter. The Jiotuers are 

 deep blue, ftriped or fpotted with black, or dark violet, 

 nearly the fize of V. calcarala, but with a ihorter _^ur, and 

 much (tiiiTieT Jlower-Jialts . 



75. V. tenella. Little Syrian Violet. Poiret in Lam. 

 n. 53. — " Lower leaves oppofite, roundifh, minute ; upper 

 fomewhat alternate, oblong, obtufe ; all fmooth and entire. 

 Flower-ftalks rather longer than the leaves." — Native of 

 Syria ; preferved in the herbarium of profeflbr Desfontaines. 

 A very fmall plant, two inches high at the utmoil. Roots 

 fimple, thread-fliaped, whitifh. Stems ereft, very fmooth, 

 fimple, (lender. Leaves ftalked. Flower fmall, on a foli- 

 tary almoll capillary ftalk. Poiret. Nothing is faid of the 



Jlipulas, IraBeas, calyx, or fpur, io that our knowledge of 

 this fpecies is very incomplete, and, but for the remark- 

 able circumftance of the partly oppofite leaves, we ftiould 

 fcarcely have ventured to admit it without examination of a 

 fpecimen. 



76. V. tridentala. Three-toothed Magellanic Violet. — 

 Stems procumbent. Leaves crowded, wedge-fhaped, with 

 three terminal teeth. Flower-ftalks much longer than the 



Jeaves. Calyx obtufe Gathered by Mr. Menzies, in 



February 1787, on the mountains of Staten Land, growing 

 among the fnow. This little fpecies is fo different m habit 

 from all the reft, that we know cot where to place it. The 

 numerous Jlems, an inch or two in length, compofe denfe 

 tufts, and are thickly covered with alternate, clofely 

 crowded, or imbricated, fleihy, ftiining, fmooth leaves, a 

 quarter of an inch long, more refembling a Saxifraga than 

 a Viola, each ending in three broad blunt teeth, and fome- 

 times notched alfo at the fides : the bafe tapers down into a 

 ftiort broad footjlalk. We can difcern no Jlipulas, except 

 the imbricated fcales on the lower part of each branch may 

 fo be called. Floivers fmall, drooping, on thick Jlalks an 

 inch liigh, rifing above the top of each ftem. Calyx-leaves 

 ovate, obtufe, thick, fomewhat gibbous at the bafe. Spur 

 fcarcely any. 



77. V. gracilis. Slender Mountain Violet. Sm. Prodr. 

 Fl. Gric. Sibth. n. 511. Fl. Grsc. t. 222, unpubliftied. 

 — Stem branched, angular, diffufe. Leaves lanceolate, 

 fomewhat crenate ; the upper ones crowded, oppofite. 

 Stipjlas deeply three-cleft. Spur much longer than the 



bafe of the calyx Gathered by Dr. Sibthorp, on the fum- 



mit of the Bithynian Olympus. We have alfo fpecimens 

 from mount .£tna, coUcdlcd by Baron Bivona. The roots 

 are perennial, creeping, long and very flcnder, much divided 

 at the top. Stems flendcr, angular, hardly a fpan long ; 

 fubdivided at the bafe; leafy in the upper part; fimple, 

 either quite fmooth or very finely downy. Leaves on 

 longiih ftalks, lanceolate or obovate, very rarely and ob- 

 fcurely crenate, fmooth or a little downy, fcarcely an inch 

 long at the moft ; the lower ones alternate ; upper oppofite, 

 and much crowded at the top of the ftem. Stipulas like the 

 leaves, but about one third as large, in three deep, ftalked, 

 obovate, entire fegments, the middle one rather the largeft. 

 Floivcr-Jlalks axillary, few, three or four inches long. 

 BraBeas rather above the middle, fmall, lanceolate, mem- 

 branous, toothed at the bafe in a haftatc manner. Flowers 

 about the fize of V. lutea, but fomewhat more oblong, 

 of a dull purplifh-blue, occafionally yellow. Calyx-leaves 

 bluntifti ; much elongated and toothed at the bafe. Spur 

 llcndcr, about the length of the petals. Capfule oblong. 



This is allied to the Panfy tribe, and perhaps more akin 

 to V. cenifui than any other, but very dillinft, and remark- 

 able for the oppofite haves ; a character occurring here and 

 there in fpecies otherwife little related to each olhcr- 



78. V. cornuta. Horned Violet. Linn. Sp. PI. 1325. 

 WiUd. n. 28. Poiret in Lam. n. 48. Ait. n. 29. Curt. 

 Mag. t. 791. (V. n. 570; Hall. Hift. v. i. 244. V. 

 pyrenaica, longiiis caudata, teucrii folio ; Tourn. Inft. 

 421.) — Stem afcending, angular, branched. Leaves hcart- 

 fhaped, crenate. Stipulas feffile, pinnatifid. Calyx-leaves 

 awl-ftiaped, taper-pointed ; elongated and abrupt at the 

 bafe, much ftiorter than the fpur. — Native of the Pyrenees, 

 and of mount Atlas. Ray is reported to have found this 

 fpecies on the Jura ; but Haller afferts there is no record of 

 any perfon befides having met with it in Switzerland. Pro- 

 feffor Ortega is faid to have firft introduced it at Kew in 

 1776. The plant is hardy and perennial, now frequent in 

 gardens, flowering in May. The Jlems form large lax 

 tufts, producing abundance of ll<y-blue, or pale purple, 

 inodorous jlotuers, of the Panfy kind. Their lip has a fmall 

 point. The Jpur is flender, afcending, near an inch long. 

 Calyx-leaves remarkably long, flendcr, and acute. The 

 whole herb is fomewhat downy, of a greyifti-green. Stipulas 

 broad, variable in fize, ufually about as long as the Joot- 

 Jlalks. Ray in his Hift. Plant, v. 3. 510, feems to indicate 

 that fome of the leaves, at leaft, are oppofite. We have 

 feen no inftance of this. 



The arrangement of the fpecies of this ample and intereft- 

 ing genus might, doubtlefs, be greatly improved, provided 

 any able botanift could compare the leading ones together, 

 in a fufficiently perfeft ftate. The Jloiuer being reverfed in 

 pofition, as in moft European and American Violets ; in 

 other words, the Up being turned downwards, feems the 

 natural pofture, though many of Indian growth are fup- 

 pofed to have ereft flowers. This charafter is not eafy to 

 afcertain in dried fpecimens, the only ones poffible to be ob- 

 tained of feveral of the moft Angular or curious kinds. We 

 have, therefore, fcarcely adverted to it. The intelligent 

 reader will trace out the leading circumftances which 

 have made us fwerve, in part, from Willdenow's diftribu- 

 tion, though we are confcious that much more remains to be 

 done. In the admiffion of new fpecies, we have pafled over 

 many American ones, mentioned by M. Poiret, bccaufe 

 they are probably fuperfeded by the labours of Mr. Purfti, 

 We could not, therefore, undertake, nor did it appear rc- 

 quifite, to fettle their fynonymy : efpecially as we have 

 reafon to think the American Vioh are not yet all well 

 known. 



We regret that the elaborate treatife on this genus, 

 which, for near thirty years, has been medit.ited by our 

 accurate friend Mr. Foriter, and which is, in fa£t, promifcd 

 in the fixth volume of the Linnsan Society's TranfaAions, 

 has never been accompliftied. We are aware of the diffi- 

 culty of the fubjeft, and thofc who have ftudied it more 

 deeply, are perhaps ftill more fo ; but we do not fcruplc to 

 declare, that a full fcientific botanical effay on Viola, might 

 difplay as much fl<iU and learning, and be made fubfcrvicnt 

 to as much philofophical illuitration of Botany, as any 

 monographical fubjcft that could be chofen. 



Vjola. See Cheiranthus, Lunarla, and Tbopa- 



OLUM. 



Viola ylquatilis. See Hottonia. 



Viola Mariana. See Campanula. 



Viola Matrona/is. See Hesperis. 



Viola Palujlris. See Hottonia and Pinouicula. 



Viola, in Gardening, contains plants of tlie herbaceous, 

 iibrous-rooted, perennial kind, among which the fpecies 

 cultivated are, the fwect-fcented M-irch violet (V. odiirata) ; 

 the palmated violet (V. palmatal ; the multifid-lcavcd violet 

 (V. pcdata) J and the panfy violet, or hcart'i-eafe (V. tri- 

 color). 



The 



