56 THE VIOLET FAMILY. [ Viola. 
Violets, and has been divided into more than a dozen species. The follow. 
ing are the most prominent forms, which, however constantly different they 
may sometimes appear, at others pass gradually into each other. 
a. V. arvensis, Muryr., or Field Pansy. A slender annual, from 2 or 3 
inches to 6 inches or a foot long. The lobes of the stipules and leaves narrow ; 
the petals small, sometimes shorter than the calyx, pale yellow, nearly 
white, or the upper ones pale purple. A very common weed of cultivation. 
b. Garden Pansy. Larger than V. arvensis in all its parts, often bien- 
nial or perennial, with broader leaves. The terminal lobe of the stipules 
larger; the petals much larger than the calyx, very variable in colour. It 
sows itself readily, but is apt to degenerate into V. arvensis. 
c. V. lutea, Huds. Usually perennial. Foliage of the compact forms 
of the garden Pansy. Flowers large and richly coloured, often yellow. 
In mountain pastures in Wales, northern England, and western Scotland. 
V. Curtisti, Forst., is an intermediate form between this and the garden 
Pansy. 
=e 
X. POLYGALACEA., THE MILKWORT FAMILY. 
A family represented in Europe only by Polygala itself. 
The other genera associated with it are chiefly tropical or 
natives of the southern hemisphere, differing from Polygala in 
the form and consistence of their fruit, or in minor details in 
the structure of their flowers, 
I. POLYGALA. MILKWORT. 
Herbs or shrubs, with entire leaves, usually alternate, no stipules, and 
very irregular flowers in terminal racemes. Sepals 5, of which the two 
inner are large, usually petal-like, and commonly called wings. Petals 3, 
4, or 5, the lowest very small and subulate, and all more or less united with 
the stamens. Stamens united in two parcels, each with 4 anthers opening 
by pores at the summit. Style 1, with a single stigma. Ovary and capsule 
flat, 2-celled, with a single pendulous seed in each cell. Seeds albuminous 
and cotyledons thin in the British species ; cotyledons fleshy, and no albu- 
men in some exotic ones. 
A very numerous genus, widely diffused over most parts of the globe. 
Several of the showy south African species are often cultivated in our 
greenhouses, 
1. P. vulgaris, Linn. (fig. 126). Common Milkwort.—A glabrous or 
nearly glabrous perennial, with a short tufted or almost woody stock, and 
numerous diffuse or ascending branches, from an inch or two to near a foot 
long. It will also occasionally flower the first year, so as to appear annual. 
Leaves crowded at the base, the lowest obovate or even orbicular, especially 
in young plants, the upper ones oblong-lanceolate, or even linear, 2 or 3 
lines tonear an inch long. Flowers usually bright blue or pink, hanging on 
short pedicels in elegant terminal racemes, with a small bract at the base of 
each pedicel. Three outer sepals small, linear, and greenish, the 2 wings 
twice as large, obovate or oblong, coloured and elegantly veined ; after flower- 
ing they lie flat on the capsule, but become greener. Petals much smaller, 
the 2 lateral oblong-linear, the lowest keel-shaped, and tipped with a little 
