this there are many varieties, which differ greatly in 
the fize and colour of their flowers. Some of thefe 
varieties have very large beautiful flowers, which have 
an agreeable odour ; others have fmall flowers with- 
out (cent ; whether thefe are diftinA fpecies or acci- 
dental varieties, I have not been able to determine* 
for I have faved the feeds of molt of the varieties as 
carefully as poffible, and have fown them feparate, 
but have always had a mixture arife, which may have 
come from feeds lying in the ground ; for in gardens 
where thefe plants'have been permitted to fcatter their 
feeds, it is impoffible to know how long the feeds may 
lie in the ground ; and when they are turned up to 
the furface, they will grow, which renders it difficult 
to determine the fpecific differences of thefe plants in 
Inch places. 
This is an annual plant, whofe roots decay after they 
have flowered and perfedted their feeds. The lower 
leaves are roundifh or oblong, and are indented on 
their edges ; the ftalks rife feven or eight inches high, 
fending out many diffufed branches ; they are four- 
cornered, and are garniffied with leaves which are 
longer and narrower than thofe below; thefe are 
notched on their edges, and fit clofe to the branches. 
The flowers Hand upon long naked foot-ftalks, which 
fpring from the wings of the ftalk ; they are in ffiape 
like thofe of the common Violet. Some of the vari- 
eties have flowers much larger, and others are of the 
fize of March Violets ; fome of them have the two 
tipper petals of a deep yellow colour with a purple 
fpot in each, the two middle of a paler yellow with a 
deep yellow fpot, and the lower petal of a velvet co- 
lour ; in others the petals are white, with yellow and 
purple fpots ; in fome the yellow is the mod prevail- 
ing colour, and in others the purple. 
The tenth fort grows naturally upon mountains in the 
north of England, and in Wales; this is a perennial 
root, fending out ffioots from the fide, which fpread 
and propagate, in which it differs from all the Pan- 
fies. The lower leaves are oblong and jagged; the 
ftalks feldom rife more than four or five inches high ; 
they decline at the bottom, and are garniffied with 
narrower leaves than thofe below, which are deeper 
cut on their Tides. The flowers ftand upon naked 
foot-ftalks two inches long ; they are much larger than 
thofe of the common fort, and are of a deep yellow 
colour, with a few purple ftreaks in the center. This 
plant continues flowering great part of fummer, but 
the flowers have no fcent. 
The common Violets are eafily propagated by part- 
ins of their roots ; this may be done at two feafons : 
the fir ft or moft common feafon for removing and 
parting of thefe roots is at Michaelmas, that the 
young 3 plants may be well rooted before winter; this 
is generally p radii ed where the plants are put on the 
borders of wood walks in large plantations, but in the 
the c-ardens where they are cultivated for their flowers, 
the hardeners tranfplant and part their plants foon 
after 3 their flowering feafon is over; To they gather all 
the flowers firft, and the plants, which are then re- 
moved, will have all the remaining fummer to grow 
and o- e t ftrength, lb will produce a greater quantity 
of flowers the following fpring, than thofe which are 
removed in autumn ; but this is not to be pradtifed, 
where they cannot be fupplied with water till they have 
taken new root, unlefs in moift feafons. 
When thefe are planted, they fhould be placed at a 
good diftance from each other to allow them room to 
fpread, for if they are expected to produce many 
flowers, they fhould not be tranfplanted oftener than 
once in three or four years, fo that in that time the 
offsets will fpread over the ground, if the roots are 
three feet afunder. 
Violets may alfo be propagated by feeds, _ which 
fhould be fown foon after they are ripe, which is about 
the end bf.Aug.uft. The plants will come up the fol- 
lowing fpring, and when they are fit to remove, they 
ffiould be tranfplanted in ffiady borders to grow till 
autumn, and then they may be planted where they 
are to remain, but the double-flowering Violets do 
V I s 
not produce feeds. Although the white, blue, and 
purple Violets are generally fuppofed to be varieties 
which have accidentally fprungfrom feeds, yet I have 
feveral years fowed the feeds of all the three forts, and 
have not found either of them vary. 
The other forts of Spring Violets are fometimes pre- 
ferved in botanic gardens for the fake of variety ; 
thefe may be propagated in the fame way as the 
common fort, but require a moift foil and a ffiady 
fituation. 
The upright fort does not fend out ffioots like the 
common Violet, fo increales but flowly by offsets ; 
this may be propagated by feeds in plenty, and is as 
hardy as the common fort. 
The feveral varieties of Panfies will fcatter their feeds 
in a ffiort time after the flowers are paft, and from 
thefe felf-fown feeds the plants which come up in 
autumn, will flower very early in the fpring, and thefe 
will be fucceeded by the fpring plants; fo that where 
they are indulged in a garden, and their feeds are per- 
mitted to fcatter, there will be a conftant fucceffion 
of their flowers the greateft part of the year ; for they 
will flower all the winter in mild feafons, and moft 
part of the fummer in ffiady fltuations, which renders 
them worthy of a place in every good garden ; but 
then they muft not be allowed to fpread too far, left 
they become troublefome weeds, for their feeds, when 
ripe, are caft out of their covers with great elafticity 
to a confiderable diftance, and the plants will foon 
fpread over a large fpace of ground, if they are per- 
mitted to ftand. 
The common Panfy ftands in the College Difpenfato- 
ry as a medicinal plant, but is rarely ufed in England. 
The great yellow Violet propagates by offsets in pret- 
ty great plenty, if it has a moift foil and a ffiady fi- 
tuation ; this may be tranfplanted in autumn, and 
the offsets may then be taken off, but the roots 
ffiould not be divided into fmall heads ; nor ffiould 
they be too often tranfplanted, becaufe they will not 
produce many flowers, unlefs the plants are ftrong, 
and have good root in the ground. This fort will 
not live in a dry foil, nor in a fituation much expofed 
to the fun. 
VIORNA. See Clematis. 
VIRGAAUREA. See Solidaco. 
VI SCUM. Tourn. Inft. R. H. 609. tab. 380. Lin,’ 
Gen. Plant. 979. [fo called, becaufe its fruit is full 
of a glutinous fubftance.] Mifleto,. in French, Gui. 
The Characters are. 
It has male and female flowers upon fleparate plants. The 
male flowers have an empalement compofed of four oblong 
leaves ; they have no petals , but have four fummits , which 
are oblong and acute-pointed , each faftened to one of the 
leaves of the empalement The' female flowers have an 
empalement of four fmall oval leaves fitting upon the ger- 
men ; thefe have no petals or flamina , but have an oblong 
three-cornered germen fituated under the flower , having 
no fiyle , but is crowned by an obtufle fiigma. The germen 
afterward turns to a globular fmooth berry with one cell , 
including a flefhy heart-fhaped feed. 
This genus of plants is ranged in the fourth fedtion of 
Linnaeus’s twenty-fecond clafs, which contains thofe 
plants whofe flowers have four male organs, and grow 
on feparate plants from the fruit. 
We have but one Species of this genus in Europe, 
viz. 
Viscum {Album) foliis lanceolatis obtufis, caule dicho- 
tomo, fpicis axillaribus. Lin. Sp. Plant. 1023. Mifleto 
with blunt fpear-fhaped leaves , forked fialks , and -f pikes 
of flowers rifling from the wings of the flalk. V ifcum 
baccis albis. C, B. P. 423. Mifleto with white berries. 
This plant, inftead of rooting and growing in the 
earth like other plants, fixes itfelf, and takes root on 
the branches of trees; it fpreads out with many 
branches, and forms a large buffi. The branches are 
ligneous ; they have a yellow green bark ; the largeft 
is about the thicknefs of a man’s finger, _ the other 
are gradually fmaller ; they are full of joints which 
eafily part afunder, at each of which grow two thick 
fleffiy leaves, which are broad and rounded at their 
points. 
