Violacece.] 
THE COLONY OE VICTORIA. 
63 
Oedeh VIOLACE2E. 
Cand. Flat'. Franc , iv. 801. 
Elowers unsymmetrical, less frequently symmetrical. Sepals 5, persistent, imbri¬ 
cate in [estivation. Petals 5, convolute rarely imbricate in aestivation, free. Stamens 
5, alternate with the petals, free or coherent. Filaments upwards extended beyond 
the anthers , broad, flat; the two lower ones often appendieulate. Anthers introrse, 
two-celled, free or coherent, bursting lengthwise. Style 1. Stigma simple, oblique, 
rarely 2-5-cleft. Ovary one-celled. Ovules anatropal. Pruit capsular, less commonly 
baccate, few- or many-seeded, rarely one-seeded. Placentae 3, rarely 1, 2 or 4, parietal. 
Seeds generally strophiolate. Chalaza usually conspicuous. Embryo straight, erect, 
in the axis of a fleshy albumen. 
Herbs, suffruticose plants or shrubs, extending to almost every part of the globe, 
not numerous in any part of Australia. Their root not rarely of emetic property. 
Leaves simple, frequently with an involute vernation. Stipules generally persistent, 
sometimes leafy, sometimes obliterated. Elowers hermaphrodite, rarely polygamous 
or dioecious; their disposition and color various. Petals marcescent or deciduous. 
Style often decimate.— Ging. in Cand. Prodr. i. 287; FJndl. Gen. 909; Lindt. Veg. 
Kingd. 338. 
This order stands in close relation to Pittosporese, to which the genus Hymen- 
anthera is also similar in aspect. Citriobatus, referred by J. Hooker to this order, 
perfects the unison. 
Tribe I. VIOLE/E, Cand. Prodr. i. 288. 
Petals unequal. 
VIOLA. 
Tournef. Instit. Pei Herb . 419.—Violet. 
Sepals generally lengthened at the base beyond the pomt of insertion. Petals unequal; the 
lower one hardly larger than the rest, gibbose or calcarate at the base. Stamens touching each other 
at their margin. Filaments flat, membranous, continued beyond the anthers into a terminal arid 
appendage; the two lower filaments usually appendieulate. Style clavate or subulate, often bent. 
Capsule three-valved, many-seeded. Seeds more or less ovate or globose, generally strophiolate. 
Herbs, rarely suffruticose plants, dispersed over most countries of the globe, but generally 
wanting in low tropical regions, numerous especially in the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere. 
Leaves permanently stipulate, all radical, otherwise alternate. Peduncles one-flowered, generally 
angular, bibracteolated, reflexed at the apex. Lastly developed flowers occasionally apetalous. Color 
of petals various, often violet, blue or white, sometimes yellow. Stamens closely accumbent to the 
ovary. Appendage of each of the lower stamens frequently calcarate and concealed within the concave 
base of the lower petal. Valves of the bursted capsule very spreading.— Gi/ng. in Canid. Prodr. i. 291 ; 
Endl. Gen. 909 ; Torr. & Gray, Flor. of North Amer. i. 36 ; Wight & Am. Prodr . Flor. Peninsul. 
Ind. Orient, i. 33 ; Erpetion , Cand. m Sweet Floiv. Gard. t. 170. 
