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21163

NETTLETON, PRINTER,

PLYMOUTH.

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Natural Order.-CAMPANACEE, Linnæus. VIOLARIEE, De Candolle. VIOLEE, Jussieu. VIOLACEAE, Lindley.

VIOLA, Linnæus.-VIOLET.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Calyx of 5 leaves, produced at the base.

Petals 5 unequal, the under one spurred at the base.
Anthers converging, two of them spurred behind.

Capsule 1-celled, 3-valved.

There are eight British species, all of which have their flowers reversed. Name

Nearly the same in all languages. According to some from ov, the food of the metamorphosed Iö. According to others, a vi olendi, from the power of its scent; or, quod juxta vias nasci amat, because it loves to grow by way-sides, where it introduces itself to the notice of passengers.-HOOKER.

This genus is divided into two families. 1. Stemless, or nearly so. 2. With The former comprehends V. hirta, odorata, palustris: the latter

a stem.

V. canina, flavicornis, lactea, tricolor, lutea.

*Stemless or nearly so.

1. VIOLA HIRTA.-Hairy Violet.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Leaves heart-shaped, rough with hairs. Petioles hairy. Capsule hairy. Calyx leaves obtuse. Petals, lateral ones with a hairy central line. Creeping Scions none.

Specific name from hirtus, hairy.

Linn. Sp. Plant. 1324. English Botany, t. 894. Smith's English Flora, vol. 1. p. 301. Hooker's British Flora, p. 118. Jones and Kingston's Flora Devoniensis, p. 38. Lindley's Synopsis, p. 35. Loudon's Encyclopædia of Plants, p, 186. Loudon's Hortus Britannicus, p. 87.

Viola Martia major hirsuta inodora, Raii Synopsis, 365.

Habitat.-Woods and hedges, pincipally in a chalky or limestone soil. Flowers.-April-May.

Perennial.

Root cylindrical; fibrous, the fibres much stronger and stouter, though less branched, than in V. odorata; thickish; knotty with the scars from the old leaves; woody; brittle; ascending; perennial. Scions not creeping, forming leafy tufts, but not taking root. Stem none. Leaves vernation involute; oblong heart-shaped; crenate; hairy on both sides, hairs erect; the crenate edges ciliated;

A

VIOLA HIRTA.

ascending; of a lighter green than in V. odorata. Petiole channelled in front, round behind; rough, with copious horizontal hairs, particularly during the vernation of the leaf, when it is almost woolly; longer than the leaves. Stipulas radical; crowded; membranaceous; very pale green; ovate; toothed, but not so much as in V. odorata, each tooth bearing a gland at its summit. Scape taller than the leaves; erect; hairless; angular as far as the bracteas, afterwards round in front, channelled behind. Bracteas two; lanceolate; situated below the middle of the scape; smooth; with glandular teeth secreting a brownish fluid; membranous at the edges. Flowers solitary; drooping; scentless. Calyx of five unequal leaves (sepals) attached above their rounded slightly hairy base ; obtuse; æstivation imbricate; purplish; smooth; marked with three purplishcoloured nerves; membranous at the edges, with a few glandular teeth, like those of the stipulas and bracteas. Corolla of five unequal petals, the uppermost broadest, notched, turned downwards, terminating at the base in a blunt reddish-purple spur projecting between the leaves (sepals) of the calyx; two lateral ones opposite, equal, obtuse, straight, with a tuft of white hairs; two lowermost equal, larger, and turned upwards (the position of the flower being reversed); varying in colour from a light greyish blue to almost a purple ; uppermost petal streaked with black and white. Stamens five, alternate with the petals. Filaments very small, two of which have combined appendages, which enter the spur of the corolla. Anthers broad; two-celled; bursting inwards; unconnected; orange-tipped. Style single; projecting beyond the anthers. Stigma bent. Ovarium hairy. Capsule one-celled; three-valved; many-seeded; opening with elasticity. Seeds ovate; polished.

This plant is very closely allied to V. odorata; though the distinctions noticed by Mr. Curtis are both constant and very evident. The short, not creeping scions, the hairiness of the plant, and the situation of the bracteas. Mr. J. T. Mackay has observed this species immediately after flowering elongate its flower stalks, which, taking a downward direction, bury the ripening capsules to the depth of two or three inches beneath the soil.

The later flowers of this species, of V. odorata, and of V. palustris, often perfect their fruit though destitute of petals.

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