Plate 71. 
VABIETXES OE HEABTSEASE OB PANSEY. 
Viola tricolor , var. 
It is sometimes said of the growers of florist flowers, that 
they lay down rules with regard to the form and marking of 
their special favourites, which are either impracticable, or, if 
obtained, are of no advantage to the flower; and of floral de¬ 
lineators, that they make their subjects more perfect than they 
are in nature. But we have ever found that by placing two 
flowers side by side, one of which fulfilled the required condi¬ 
tions, the other not, and then appealing to those who were not 
florists, they have always acknowledged that, however appa¬ 
rently conventional the rules, they are founded on good taste 
and a just appreciation of beauty; and if any one considers the 
drawing of the florist varieties in the present Plate too perfect, 
we can only say that when Lady Lucy Bandas was exhibited by 
Messrs. Downie, Laird, and Laing, it was pronounced to be the 
nearest approach to a perfect circle that had as yet been ob¬ 
tained in this class. 
We have, in fact, in order to show the difference between a 
w T ell-formed flower and one not of good shape, placed on our 
Plate four varieties,* two of what are called florist varieties, 
and two of a race lately introduced from Belgium and France 
# 1. Belle Esquimaux (Eancy) : pale-yellowish ground, crimson upper pe¬ 
tals, an enormous eye of the same colour, and the belting on the lower 
petal nearly covering it. 
2. Mibacle (Eancy) : creamy-white, with large eye and blotch of deep- 
purple. 
3. Lady Lucy Dundas (Zt, Z., and Z.) : clear white ground and deep 
purplish-maroon belting ; an exquisite flower. 
4. Eev. Thomas Downie (Zt, Z., and Z.): deep golden-yellow, with a deep 
bronzy-purple belting, fine large dark blotch. 
