THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



lovely variety of this species is {V. 

 amoena) the beautiful, and it is well 

 named ; in it the petals are all blue or 

 purple. It may be found growing 

 with the type, but is perhaps more 

 partial to the sandy margins of moun- 

 tain streams. It is a prL'e worth pre- 

 serving, but, like all the violets, care 

 is requisite in drying. If, after it is 

 put in the drying press, the pressure 

 be relaxed and the flower exposed to 

 the air before it is thoroughly dry, the 

 petals will all shrivel up, and no amount 

 of care or pains will ever restore them 

 to their natural shape. To dry and 

 preserve well, violets must be placed 

 between two sheets of botanical paper, 

 and however often the intermediate 

 layers of paper may be renewed, the 

 two sheets containing the specimen 

 must not be opened until it is thorough- 

 ly dry — in a month or six weeks — when 

 it may be removed with impunity ; but 

 a properly mounted specimen should 

 have the flowers gummed down to the 

 herbarium sheer, when it will be "a 

 thing of beauty and a joy for ever." 



The flowers of the violet show a very 

 highly specialised structure and are 

 worthy of close examination. For our 

 purpose the common wood violet is as 

 good as any. Observe the spreading 

 petals of the corolla — a showy, attrac- 

 tive surface, fitted to allure wandering 

 bees and moths, the radiating lines on 

 the petals all converging towards the 

 centre and acting as guides to where 



the honey lies. The throat of the 

 corolla is closed by projecting scales 

 and hairs, preventing the access of ants 

 and other minute marauders, who 

 would rifle the stores of nectar without 

 affording any compensating advantage 

 to the plant. The lowest petal is pro- 

 longed into a closed tube forming a 

 nectary or spur, in which lie two 

 curious tags or tails from two of the 

 anthers. The five stamens have the 

 anthers slightly cohering so as to form i 

 a hollow cylindrical box, through which | 

 the style passes, the stigma protruding 

 beyond the stamens. The style is bent 

 at the base, slender and hollow, the 

 stigma being on the internal surface at 

 the apex. Owing to the curvature at 

 the top of the peduncle, the whole 

 flower is inverted and the stigma hangs 

 down : this also prevents the rain 

 from entering and spoiling the pollen. 

 When the anthers are mature they 

 open on their inner face, and the pol- 

 len, which is very dry and powdery, 

 falls into the closed box, where it accu- 

 mulates as a granular dust. To com- 

 prehend this complicated contrivance, 

 suppose a bee in search of food, allured , 

 by the coloured corolla, and guided by 

 the lines on the petals, it pushes its 

 proboscis into the nectary, where, 

 whilst lapping the nectar secreted 

 by the anther appendages, it presses 

 against them, and they, acting like 

 a lever upon the anthers themselves, 

 unlocks the box which they form, 



