Violacece .] 
THE COLONY OE VICTORIA. 
65 
angular, laxly erect or quite decumbent. Petioles rather distant, varying from J-3 inches in length; a few 
radical. Leaves nearly membranous, more acute than blunt, glabrous or somewhat scabrous, measuring 1-2 
inches, sometimes broader than long ,• their base with a deep or shallow sinus, occasionally quite truncate, not 
or but slightly tapering, into the petiole,* their lateral nerves originating at the base, thence divergent and 
branched upwards into veins. Stipules 3-6 lines long, f-li line broad, acute, slightly, ciliated, with a few 
remote serratures, or almost teethless. Peduncles axillary, l|-4 inches long, furnished near or above the 
middle with two almost opposite ciliolate bracteoles, -which are 1-2 lines long. Sepals measuring about 2 
lines, lanceolate, acute, entire, three-nerved; their free base only about | line long, blunt. Petals 4-6 lines 
long; upper ones obovate-spathulate ,* lateral ones curved- and cuneate-oblong; lower one short- and blunt- 
bilobed, streaked with violet veins; spur of the latter about 1 line long. Anthers cream-colored, hardly 1 
line long, their terminal appendage orange, nearly deltoid or semiovate, dilated at the base, about § line long. 
Glandular appendages at the back of the two lower stamens i line long, gibbous below, fulvous, very minutely 
puberulous. Style 1 line long, twisted at the base, glabrous. Stigma oblique terminal; its upper lobe 
broadest. Capsule 3-4 lines long, short cuspidate ; valves lanceolate-cymbiform. Seeds not very numerous, 
ovate, nearly § line long 5 when well matured almost black, marked with minute white spots. Strophiole 
whitish, almost lanceolate. Embryo as long as the albuminous part of the seed. Cotyledons of equal length 
-with the cylindrical radicle. 
In flower during the spring. 
Viola hederacea, labill. Nov. Soil, PI. Sp . i. 66 t. 91; V. Sieberiana, Spreng. Syst. Append. 96; 
Sooli. Comp. Pot. Magaz. 274; Erpetion reniforme, Sweet FI. Card. 170; E. hederaceum, Cand. in Bon 
Gen . Syst. i. 335; E. petiolare, Don , l. c.; E. spathulatum, Don , l. c. 
Perennial, stoloniferous, rarely caulescent; leaves kidney-shaped or rhomboid, or verging into a 
semilunate or cuneate or orbiculate form, repand-crenulate or dentate; stipules fimbriolate, rarely entire, 
scarious, free, semilanceolate-subulate; bracteoles lanceolate- or subulate-linear, teethless; sepals scarcely 
appendiculate ; corolla without a spur ; petals more or less blue; the lateral ones bearded; the lower one 
emarginate; lower stamens without ajjpendages ; style cylindrical ; stigma very minute; seeds without stro¬ 
phiole , black; cotyledons ovate . 
Dispersed over the whole Colony of Victoria, with the exception of the north-western quarter; occur¬ 
ring* in sandy moist heath-soil, on rivulets, in boggy places, from the lowlands to the summits of our Alps 
(6060-7000 feet elevation). Frequent in Tasmania, and also in East Australia, where it extends to latitude 
26° S. Comparatively of rare occurrence in South Australia, where it has been noticed near Mount Barker, 
on the Onkaparinga, in the Barossa Banges and near Rivoli Bay. 
A creeping* or tufted herb, extremely variable in form, sometimes in all parts very minute, forming 
patches only 1 inch high, with short intricately interwoven stolons; sometimes, on favorable localities along- 
torrents, producing very long stolons, which from node to node occasionally measure fully a foot, and in rare 
instances produce a weak flaccid but not rooting stem upwards of 2 feet long and then alternately foliate. 
Forms intermediate between these extreme varieties exist in abundance. Stolons furnished with alternate 
stipular scales, in early-flowering seedling-plants wanting. Leaves in fascicles at the joints of the creeping 
stem, even when well developed often reduced to the length of 2 lines, although generally larger, sometimes 
in gigantic specimens attaining a breadth of 1 J inch and a length of nearly 1 inch, either equally green on 
both pages or much paler below, either membranous or somewhat carnulent, either glabrous or slightly 
hispidulous, toothed or repand in front, entire towards the base. Petioles generally longer than the leaves, 
attaining- in luxurious growth a length of 3 inches. Stipules brownish, 1J-3 lines long;, their teeth gland¬ 
bearing. Peduncles slender, capable of varying in length between f and 9 inches, towards or below the 
middle bracteolate, glabrous or densely hispidulous 5 the hair in the latter case white, short and spreading. 
Bracteoles generally opposite, 1-3 lines long, tipped with a minute gland. Flower as in most Violets nodding*. 
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