VIOLACEiE. (VIOLET FAMILY.) 29 



* Stemless, the leaves and scapes all from a subterranean rootstoch : flowers 

 purplish or violet (sometimes white). 



1. V. palUStris, L. Smooth: rootstoch slender : leaves round heart-shaped 

 and kidney-form, slightly eremite : flowers small, pale lilac with purple streaks, nearly 

 beardless : spur very short and obtuse. — Mountains of Colorado and Utah, and 

 far northward ; also in the White Mountains of N. H. 



2. V. CUCUllata, Ait. Rootstoch thick and branching, dentate : leaves 

 lon<r-petioled, smooth or pubescent, cordate with a broad sinus ; the lowest 

 often reniform and the later acute or acuminate, crenately toothed, the sides 



.rolled inward when young: flowers deep or pale violet or purple (sometimes 

 white: the lateral and often the lower petals bearded: spur short and thick. — A 

 very variable species, ranging across the continent, but sparingly reported 

 from the Rocky Mountain region of Colorado and Wyoming. 



3. V. delphinifolia, Nutt. Rootstoek short and very thick, erect, not 

 scaly: leaves all pal mate fy or pedately 5 to 7 -parted ; divisions 2 to 3-cleft into 

 linear lobes : flowers pale or deep lilac purple or blue: lateral petals bearded. 

 — From Colorado across the plains to the Mississippi States. 



* * Leafy -stemmed, perennial from short rootstocks. 



•«- Leaf bearing from base to summit, erect or ascending. 



++ Flowers white or purple. 



4. V. canina, L., var. sylvestris, Regel. Low (3 to 8 inches high): 

 stems mostly simple, from the base at length producing creeping branches ' 

 leaves heart-shaped or the lowest kidney-form, crenate ; stipules fringe-toothed : 

 petals light violet, the lateral ones slightly bearded : spur cylindrical, half the 

 length of the petals : stigma beaked. — The most common American variety of 

 this very variable and widely distributed species. From Colorado northward 

 and eastward. 



Var. adunca, Gray. Leaves ovate, often somewhat cordate at base, ob- 

 scurely crenate : spur as long as the sepals, rather slender, hooked or curved. — 

 Rocky Mountains and westward. 



Var. longipes, Watson. Very similar, but the stout obtuse spur is nearly 

 straight. — Bot. Calif, i. 56. Same range us the last. 



5. V. Canadensis, L. Upright, 1 to 2 feet high : leaves cordate, pointed, 

 serrate; stipules entire: petals white or whitish inside, the upper ones mostly 

 tinged with purple beneath, sometimes entirely purple ; the lateral ones 

 bearded: spur very short: stigma beakless. — Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, 

 and eastward. 



++ ++ Flowers yelloio, more or less veined or tinged ivith purple. 



6. V. aurea, Kellogg. More or less pubescent, 2 to 6 inches high : leaves 

 ovate to lanceolate, cuneate or sometimes truncate at base, coarsely crenate ; stip- 

 ules fuliac ous, lanceolate, laciniate: peduncles a little longer than the leaves: the 

 upper petals more or less tinged with brown on the outside, the others veined 

 with purple : capsule, nearly globular, pubescent. 



Var. venosa, Watson. Alpine and more slender : flowers smaller : leaves 

 often purple- veined. — Bot. Calif, i. 56. V. Nuttallii, var. venosa, of Hayd. Rep. 

 1872. The species belongs to the Sierra Nevada and westward, while the 

 variety ranges eastward to the Wasatch and Uintas. 



