Viola.] VIOL AC E^. 56 



XI.-VIOLACEJE. 



I^Hbebs or shrubs. Leaves alternate, entire or pinnatisect, stipul- 

 ate. Flowers regular or irregular, 2-8exua], 2-braeteolate. Sepals 

 5, distinct, equal or unequal, imbricate, persistent. Petals 5, dis- 

 tinct, equal or unequal, imbricate or contorted in bud. Stamens 

 6 ; filaments short, broad ; anthers distinct or connate ; connective 

 broad, produced beyond tbe cells. Ovary sessile, 1-celled ; ovules 

 numerous, inserted on 3 parietal placentas. Fruit a 3-valved capsule, 

 ^•arely a berry. Seeds small, with fleshy albumen. 



Corolla irregular. 



Sepals produced at the base, anthers connate . 1. Viola. 



Sepals not produced at the base, anthers distinct 2: Ionidium. 



Corolla regular . 3. Alsodeia. 



1. VIOLA, Linn. ; Fl. Brit. Ind. i, 182. 



Herbs, rarely shrubby below. Floioers often dimorphic. Sepals 

 produced at the base. Petals erect or spreading, the largest spurred 

 or saccate at the base. Anthers connate, connectives of the 2 lower 

 often spurred at the base. Style clavate or truncate, tip straight or 

 oblique ; stigma obtuse, lobed or cupular. Capsule 3-valved. Seeds 

 many, ovoid or globose. 



The common sweet-scented Violet (V. odorata, L.) is found wild in 

 Kashmir. V. tricolor L. is the ' Pansy ' or ' Heartsease. ' 



Stigma terminal, 3-lobed . . , . . 1. F. Patrinii, 

 Stigma lateral, 2-lohed 2. F. cinerea. 



1. V. Patrinii, Ging. in DG. Prod, i, 293 ; W. ^ A. Prod. 82 ; F. B. I. i, 

 183. V. primulaefolia, Linn, {in part) ; Roxh. Fl. Ina» i, [650. V. prio- 

 nantha, Bunge ; Boyle III. 121. 



A glabrous or pubescent perennial herb with a very short tufted root- 

 stock. Leaves very variable, 3-4 in. long, all radical, triangular-ovate 

 oblong or linear, coarsely crenate or serrate ; base hastate cordate or 

 cuneate: petiole 2-4 in., often winged; st-ipuies linear, adnate, entire. 

 Flowers \-h in. in diam., exceeding the leaves, lilac. Bracts linear. 

 Sepals lanceolate, acute, glabrous. Petals oval, obtuse, with short claws ; 

 spur saccate. Styie nearly straight, slender; stigma 3-lobed, dilated. 

 Capsule ^-| in. long ; valves narrow, acute. 



Dehra Dun and Saharanpur Districts, in grassy places. Distbib. : 

 Punjab plain ; Himalaya, from Kashmir to Bhutan up to 8,000 ft., 

 Afghanistan, North Asia, Japan. On the Himalaya the flowers are 

 usually sweet-scented. 



