IX. VTOLAOEiE 
39 
IX. VIOLACE^E 
An Order spread over nearly the whole world ; some of the 
species are shrubs or small trees. In the W. Himalaya Viola is 
the only genus. 
VIOLA. The old Latin name of the Violet. — Nearly all tem- 
perate regions. 
Small herbs. Stem usually short or none. Leaves radical or 
alternate, simple, stalked ; stipules persistent. Flowers irregular, 
2-sexual, on axillary stalks, usually solitary. Sepals 5, persistent, 
nearly equal, prolonged downwards in a short, flat, obtuse blade. 
Petals 5, spreading, the lowest one usually the largest, its base 
produced in a hollow spur, the other 4 flat, nearly equal. Stamens 
5, anthers sessile, erect, 2-celled, united in a ring encircling the 
ovary, each tipped with a small triangular lobe, the 2 lower pro- 
duced at the base in short spurs enclosed within the petal-spur. 
Ovary sessile, 1 -celled, style thickened upwards ; stigma dilated ; 
ovules several, disposed in 3 lines on the walls of the cavity. 
Capsule ovoid, opening horizontally by 3 boat-shaped valves, the 
sides of which pressing on the smooth ovoid seeds eject them 
successively with considerable force. 
Honey is secreted within the spur ; the details of the cross-fertilisation 
effected by insects vary in the several species. — In the autumn on most plants 
minute closed ( cleistogamic ) flowers may be found near the ground which pro- 
duce abundant seed. See Darwin’s Forms of Flowers , chap. viii. 
Flowers yellow . . . . . . . . . 1. V. biflora. 
Flowers lilac or pale blue. 
Leaves narrowly triangular. Stigma 8-lobed, hollowed at 
the top . . . . . . . . . . 2. V. Patrinii. 
Leaves ovate. 
Stipules entire or toothed. Stigma 8-lobed, beaked . 3. V. serpens. 
Stipules fringed. Stigma truncate, not beaked . 4. V. canescens. 
1. Viola biflora, Linn . ; FI. Br. Ind. i. 182. Glabrous or 
pubescent. Stems usually erect, 3-10 in. Leaves 2 or 3, kidney- [/ 
shaped, |-1 in. across, crenate ; stipules ovate or oblong. Flowers 
1 or 2 on the same stalk, pale_ yellow, the lower petal streaked 
with black ; spur very short! stigma 2-lobed. 
Huttoo ; June. — Temperate Himalaya. — N. temperate regions. 
A very hairy form with larger leaves and flowers occurs on the Chor ; it is 
V. reniforviis, Wall., included under V. biflora in the FI. Br. Ind. 
2. Viola Patrinii, Ging. ; FI. Br. Ind. i. 183. Glabrous or 
pubescent. Stems very short or none. Leaves tufted, triangular, 
usually narrowly elongate, H-2^x^-l^ in., base cordate or 
