WakKE Rosin FARM, HOME, PENNSYLVANIA 
Violet, Blue (Viola papilionacea). This is the violet everyone knows. It typifies violets 
of every kind. It unites the main qualities of the Violet Family. It has unsurpassed 
beauty. It is found in unlimited quantity. It permits unrestricted plucking. It has 
unrivalled scent. It is unknown almost nowhere. It has an intricate mechanism for 
cross-pollination in the blossoms, and self-fertilizing buds at the base of the stem. 
It yields perfume; has been cooked and eaten; and has been recommended as a 
remedy for skin diseases (e. g., eczema). The blossoms are often more abundant 
than the leaves, and are truly violet in color, verging into purple hues. Leaves 
are deep green and heart-shaped. Spreads lustily in clumps and masses, 3 to 6 
inches high, in shade or sun, in groves, orchards and moist meadows. It grows 
lushly around dwellings, as if responding to the widespread human appreciation. 
Emblem of the Bonapartes, favorite of Mohammed, the popularity of the Blue 
Violet is ancient and general. 20c each; $1.75 for 12. é 
More than 100 species of violets have been identified 
on earth; about 75 in North America, and 30 or so in the 
United States. We have found 6 on this Farm, all herein 
described. 
Violet, Downy Yellow (Viola pubescens). The underside of the leaf is the downy 
feature to which both English and Latin names refer. The plant is rather tall and 
spare, from 6 to 12 inches high. The flowers are light golden yellow, and bloom 
singly on thin stems from the forks of paired leaf stalks. They bloom in April and 
May. This violet is found in rich woods, dense thickets, under maples, and along 
old stone walls and roadsides. It tolerates dry places in shade. 25c each; $2.50 for 12. 
Violet, Spurred; Long-Spurred Violet (Viola rostrata). Oddity and delicacy are the 
prime qualities of the Spurred Violet. The oddity is the spur, and the delicacy, the 
lilac of the petals. Rostrata means beaked, referring to rostrum or tip of a sailing 
ship’s prow, and applied freely to the rostra (now rostrum) or stage of the Roman 
theater, bedecked with the beaks of captured ships. The flowers are multiple from 
the same root, their stems rising from forked leaf stalks. Flowers reach 4 to 8 inches 
in height, above the leaves, reclining as they mature, and with the small, dark green 
leaves, present a loose bouquet effect. The centers of the flowers are purple veined, 
with orange pollen. The spur, beak or rostrum is slender, and a quarter-inch to a 
possible half-inch long. To ensure reproduction, self-fertilizing little buds appear 
later at the branching of the upper leaves. Authorities ascribe occurrence from 
Quebec to Michigan and south to Georgia. Few authorities describe the Spurred 
Violet, and we wonder just how plentiful it may be. Rather precious in these 
parts and we have no record of dealer listing. 25¢ each. 
Violet, Yellow; Round-Leaved Violet (Viola rotundifolia). Short, bunchy clumps of 
little golden yellow violets, rising from the root on 3-inch scapes, above the low 
clump of young leaves. The leaves, formed the previous fall, remain small and 
green all winter, about an inch wide at flowering time and treble that size by 
summer, when they flatten down. Bryant describes better this “yellow violet .. . 
slight . . . and... low,” which “peeps from last year’s leaves below.” The leaves 
are bluntly heart-shaped, accounting for the official name. Found in_ cold woods, 
usually in shade. Blooms in April and May. Self seeding. 25c each; $2.50 for 12. 
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