16 
IV. VIOLARlEAf. 
with 2 to 5, parietal placentas, and one style. Fruit a capsule or berry. 
Embryo axile in fleshy albumen. 
A large Order, widely distributed through tropical aud temperate regions. 
Petals spreading. Anthers united. Capsule 3-valved 1. Viola. 
Petals small. Anthers free. Berry with 3 or 6 placentas ... 2. Melicytus. 
Petals small. Anthers connate. Berry with 2 placentas .... 3. Hymenanthera. 
1. VIOLA, Linn. 
Herbs, with trailing stems or short woody stocks. Leaves alternate, petioled, 
stipulate. Flowers irregular. — Sepals 5, produced at the base. Petals un- 
equal, spreading, lowermost often larger, spurred or gibbous at the base. 
Anthers 5, connective flat, produced into a thin membrane, the lower often 
spurred. Style capitate. Capsule 3-valved, with a parietal placenta on each 
valve. 
A large British and widely-diffused genus in all temperate climates, of which several 
species produce two forms of flowers ; the larger peduneled, with large petals, that often 
ripen few seeds ; and minute ones lower down, apparently imperfect, with reduced petals or 
0, that ripen abundance of seed. 
Stems slender. Leaves cordate." Stipules and bracts lacerate . . . 1. V. filicaulis. 
Stems slender. Leaves cordate. Bracts entire 2. V. Lyallii. 
Stems short. Leaves ovate. Bracts entire 3. V. Cunninghamii. 
1. V. filicaulis, TTook.f. FI. N. Z. i. 16. Very slender, perfectly gla- 
brous. Stems filiform, prostrate or creeping. Leaves alternate, orbicular- 
cordate or broadly ovate-cordate, obtuse or acute, obtusely crenate ; petioles 
1-3 in. long ; stipules lacerate, the teeth filiform, tipped with a gland. Pe- 
duncles very slender, 1-flovvered ; bracts subulate, more or less lacerate like 
the stipules. Flowers very pale blue, i— J in. diam. Sepals linear-lanceolate, 
acuminate. Spur very short. 
Northern aud Middle Islands: as far south as Otago, in various localities, abundant. 
Very near the V. serpens of India. 
2. V. Lyallii, Hook. /., n. sp . — V. Cunninghamii, var. y, FI. N. Z. i. 16. 
Entirely similar in most respects to V. filicaulis, but the stipules and bracts 
are generally more green, and always entire, usually obtuse, and the flowers 
are smaller. 
Northern Island : in various places, Sinclair, Colenso. Middle Island : Nelson, 
Travers ; Canterbury, Lyall. In the N. Z. Flora I regarded this as a cordate-leaved variety 
of V. Cunninghamii, but more specimens have convinced me of its distinctness. Closely allied 
to the Australian V. Caleyana, but smaller iu all its parts, and with less deeply cordate leaves. 
3. V. Cunninghamii, Hook.f. FI. N. Z. i. 16. Very variable in size, 
glabrous. Stem short, much branched, often thickened into a short woody 
stock. Leaves tufted on the top of the root or stem, or on very short 
branches from it, ovate ovate-oblong or triangular-ovate, narrowed into the 
petiole, obtuse, obscurely crenate ; petioles often 4 in. long ; stipules broadly 
adnate to the base of the petiole, slightly lacerate or entire. Peduncles slen- 
der ; bracts linear, obtuse, quite entire. Flowers -|— | in. diam., pale blue. 
Sepals linear-oblong, obtuse. — Erpetion spathulatum, A. Cunn., not Don. 
Very common in moist places, from the middle of the Northern Island southwards, 
ascending to 50 00 ft. Middle Island : Hopkins river and Lake Okau, Haast ; Wairau 
mountains, Travers ; Otago, Hector and Buchanan. Also found in Tasmania. 
