748 Identification and Eradication of Weeds, [dec, 



THE IDENTIFICATION AND ERADICATION OF 

 SOME COMMON WEEDS. 



III.* 



Harold C. Long, B.Sc. (Edin.), 



With Drawings from Nature by Bertha Reid. 



Corn Pansy. 



The Corn Pansy or Heartsease (Viola tricolor, L.), with 

 various sub-species, is found chiefly on arable and waste land, 

 and is widely distributed. It occurs on calcareous soils, but 

 more frequently on light sandy land. Brenchley found it 

 absent or exceedingly rare on clays and heavy land.f It is 

 a pretty and very variable annual. The name Pansy is 

 apparently derived from Paunce, Pensee, and hence the old 

 saying, " Pansie for thoughts," the pansy being generally 

 accepted as the symbol of remembrance or constancy. Hence 

 the name Herb Constancy for this little plant, which is also 

 termed Wild Pansy and Pansy Violet. Shakespeare makes 

 Ophelia say : — "There's pansies, that's for thoughts." 



Seeds. — The seeds (Fig. i, a) of Viola tricolor are com- 

 monly present in samples of Timothy, Alsike, and other 

 grass and clover seeds, and are a very undesirable impurity. 

 Burchard + describes the seed as shaped like a thick comma, 

 with a sharp point. It is about to T V in. (i'2 to 1*5 mm.) 

 in length, evenly coloured light brown or yellowish-brown to 

 fairly dark brown, smooth and usually somewhat shiny, and 

 the hilum is at one side near the pointed end or projection, 

 which is slightly lighter in colour than the rest of the seed. 

 The seed is slightly flattened, and many specimens show 

 clear depressions on the flattened sides; it is more or less 

 conical, but owing to the compression referred to has a 

 strong tendency to lie in a particular position, and when 

 moved rolls over to that position. Fresh seed is plump, 

 hard, and slippery. 



Seedlings. — In its early stage (Fig. 1, b) the seedling has 



* The previous articles appeared in the Journal for July, 191 1, p. 288, and 

 September, 191 1, p. 460. 



t " Weeds in Relation to Soils," W. E. Brenchley : Journal of the Board oj 

 Agriculture, April, 191 1, p. 18. 



% Die Unkrautsamen, O. Burchard, 1900, p. 23. 



