2.-V. ODORATA, Linnæus.-SWEET VIOLET.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Leaves heart-shaped, nearly smooth. Petioles nearly smooth. Calyx leaves obtuse. Petals lateral ones with a hairy central line. Scions creeping.

Linn. Sp. Pl. 1324. E. B. t. 619. Sm. Eng. Fl. vol. 1. p. 301. Hook. Br. Fl. p. 118. J. and K. Fl. Dev. p. 38. Lindl. Syn. p. 35. Loud. Ency. Pl. p. 186. Loud. Hor.

Brit. p. 87.

Viola Martia purpurea, Raii Synopsis, 364.

6. Flowers white. Viola Martia alba Raii Synopsis, 364.

Habitat.-Woods and banks, common. Very rare in Scotland.
Flowers.-March-April.

Perennial.

Specific name from odoratus, sweet-scented, fragrant.

Root cylindrical; very fibrous; thickish; knotty, with the scars from the old leaves; rather woody; perennial. Scions long; leafy; spreading very far. Stem none. Leaves vernation involute; rounded heart-shaped; crenate; slightly wrinkled; hairy, the hairiness very variable; the upper surface sometimes entirely, sometimes partially covered with scattered, rather rigid, hairs: the prominent veins of the lower surface well covered with hairs, (during vernation very much so) the intermediate parts generally smooth; the crenate edges hairy; spreading; of a darker green than V. hirta. Petiole channelled in front, round behind; hairy, hairs deflexed; varying very much in length. Stipulas radical; crowded; closely embracing the young scape, leaves, and petiole; becoming membranaceous in age; streaked with purple; lanceolateovate, with taper-pointed teeth, each tooth tipped with a gland secreting a brown fluid of a lighter colour than that of the bracteas. Scape angular; twisted as high as the bracteas, afterwards round or slightly twisted; ascending; occasionally streaked with purple; becoming gradually more hairy towards the top; hairs deflexed. Bracteas two; lanceolate; narrow; smooth, except at the edges, which are beautifully ciliated; toothed at the base, each tooth with a gland on or near its summit secreting a brown fluid; situated above the middle of the scape when the flower has come to its full expansion; completely enveloping the flower during æstivation. Flowers solitary; drooping. Calyx of 5 unequal, ovate-obtuse leaves (sepals); situated as in the former; slightly hairy; ciliated at the base; æstivation imbricate; persistent; almost as long as the corolla; green, deeply stained with purple. Corolla of 5 unequal petals; upper one spurred, spur purple in the white variety, notched, the two side ones

VIOLA ODORATA.

with a cluster of white hairs; æstivation convolute; white tinged with purple, deep purple, and sometimes of a lilac colour; of a most delicious odour. Stamens 5 alternate with the petals. Filaments very small as in the former. Anthers broad; two-celled; bursting inwards; unconnected; orange-tipped. Style single; projecting beyond the anthers. Stigma a single booked point. Ovarium hairy at the summit. Capsule one-celled; three-valved; many-seeded; opening with elasticity. Seeds ovate; polished; numerous.

The violet has been a favourite flower with poets of all ages and countries. The Greeks gave the epithet violet-coloured eyelids to the Goddess of Beauty; and the Arabians compare the eyelids of a fine woman bathed in tears to a violet dropping dew. This comparison has been borrowed by Byron, though applied by him to the colour of the eyes, not the eyelids.

I saw thee weep, the big bright tear

Came o'er that eye of blue;
And then methought it did appear

A violet dropping dew.

To understand the Arabian allusion we must remember the oriental custom of staining the lids of the eyes with an impalpable powder, of a colour nearly approaching that of a violet, in order to give a tender and languid expression. Does Shakspeare refer to the same expression when he says,

Violets dim,

But sweeter than the lids of Juno's eyes?

Ebn Rumi speaking of the violet says, "It is not a flower, but an emerald bearing a purple gem!"

Hasselquist informs us that the sweet-scented violet is greatly esteemed, not only for its smell and colour, but especially for its use in sherbet; which, when the Easterns intend to entertain their guests in an elegant manner, is made of violet sugar. The highland ladies are also said to have used this flower as a cosmetic, though it is not easy to discover how Scotland could produce them in sufficient quantity for that purpose. A Gaelic author says, "Anoint thy face with goat's milk, in which violets have been infused, and there is not a young prince who will not be charmed with thy beauty."

The syrup of violets was formerly very much used as a drink to quench thirst in fevers, and the plant was cultivated for that purpose at Stratford-upon-Avon.

The Syrup, which is of a fine blue colour, is sometimes used as a chemical test for acids, and alkalis. Slips of paper stained with the juice of the petals of the purple flower are employed in the same manner.

The plant is fed upon by the Argynnis Adippe.

Specific name from caninus, belonging to a dog.

Linn. Sp. Plant 1324. English Botany, t. 620. Sm. Eng. Fl. vol. 1. p. 303. Hook. Br. Fl. p. 119. J. and K. Fl. Dev. p. 39. Lind. Syn. p. 35. Loud. Ency. Pl. p. 186. Loud, Hort. Bri. p. 87. Baxter's British Flowering Plants, vol. 1, p. 4.

Viola Martia inodora sylvestris, Raii Synopsis, 364.

Habitat.-Woods, banks, and dry pastures, frequent.

Flowers.-April-August.

Perennial.

** Furnished with a stem.

Root cylindrical, fibrous, knotty with the scars from the old leaves woody, perennial. Stem at first very short, but soon rising to 6-10 inches; rather oblique; leafy; angular; channelled; smooth. Leaves vernation involute; heart-shaped; acute; crenate; upper surface with short appressed hairs, the lower surface smooth, shining, dark green, frequently strongly marked with purplish veins; the crenate edges not hairy; ascending. Petiole channelled in front, round behind; hairless; occasionally purplish; varying in length, but always longer than the leaves. Stipulas both radical and cauline; very deeply toothed; streaked with purple; acute; without glands. Peduncle square; upright; the early ones radical, the rest axillary. Bracteas two ; awlshaped; hairless; not toothed; streaked with purple. Flowers solitary; drooping. Calyx of 5 unequal leaves (sepals); linear-lanceolate; smooth; æstivation imbricate; with a strongly marked central purple line; edges membranaceous. Corolla of 5 unequal petals, upper one spurred; the spur varying in colour from a dull whitish green to a light purple; the lateral petals much more hairy than in V. hirta and odorata; æstivation convolute; blue, purple, and sometimes almost white; scentless. Stamens five; alternate with the petals. Filaments very small, as in the former. Anthers broad; two-celled; bursting inwards; slightly cohering; orange-tipped. Style single; projecting beyond the anthers. Stigma more blunt than in V. odorata.

Ovarium very

slightly hairy. Capsule, as in the former; valves compressed. Seeds ovate; polished; numerous.

VIOLA CANINA.

In all the European species of the Violet the flower is reversed or inverted, while in most of the Indian ones it is erect.

The Violet tribe consist chiefly of European, Siberian, and American plants. A few only being found within the tropics of Asia. They are abundant in South America; the forms of which are, however, materially different from those of the more temperate parts of the world, most of them being shrubs, while the northern violets are uniformly herbaceous, or nearly so.

The roots of all Violacea appear to be more or less emetic, a property which is strongly possessed by the American species, one of which is frequently sold for the true ipecacuanha. The European species possess the same property, only in a less degree.— LINDLEY.

From the converging anthers, Linnæus and other Botanists formerly placed the Viole among syngenesious plants.

This species is well distinguished from V. hirta, by its acute calyx leaves, and the green spur of the corolla. The plant is fed upon by the caterpillars of Argynnis Aglaia, and A. Paphia. It has a reputation for being an extremely powerful agent in the removal of obstinate cutaneous affections.

The difference between this plant and V. odorata has been thus beautifully noticed by C. H. Townshend :

Deceitful plant! from thee no odours rise,
Perfume the air, or scent the mossy glade,
Altho' thy blossoms wear the modest guise

Of her, the sweetest offspring of the shade.

Yet not like hers, still shunning to be seen,

And by their fragrant breath alone betrayed,
Veiled in the vesture of a scantier green,

To every gazer are thy flowers displayed.

Thus Virtue's garb Hypocrisy may wear,
Kneel as she kneels, or give as she has given;
But ah! no meek retiring worth is there—
No incense of the heart exhales to heaven!

Natural Order.-PRECIÆ, Linn. LYSIMACHIE, Juss. PRIMULACEA, Ventenat, Brown, Lindley.

PRIMULA, Linnæus.-PRIMROSE.

GENERIC CHARACTER.

Calyx tubular, 5-toothed.

Corolla salver-shaped, tube cylindrical, mouth open.
Capsule 1-celled, opening with ten teeth.

Name

From primus, first, on account of the early appearance of the flowers in the commonest of the species.

1. PRIMULA VULGARIS, Hudson.-COMMON PRIMROSE.

SPECIFIC CHARACTER.

Leaves toothed, wrinkled. Scape single-flowered. Corolla limb flat.

Specific name from vulgaris, common.

Eng. Bot. t. 4. Sm. Eng. Fl. vol. 1. p. 270. Hook. Brit. Fl. p. 105. J. and K. Fl. Dev. p. 35. Lindl. Syn. p. 184. Loud. Ency. Pl. p. 126. Loud. Hort. Brit. p. 57. Primula veris y acaulis, Linn. Sp. Pl. 205. Henslow.

P. veris vulgaris Raii Syn. 284.

Habitat.-Woods, hedges, banks, pasturages, abundant.

Root fleshy; very knotty; sending out long, tough, gradually diminishing fibres, at the extremity of which are numerous branched fibrilla; perennial; Leaves vernation revolute; ovateupper part of a pink colour. Stem none. oblong, gradually tapering to a broad, short petiole; wrinkled; unequally toothed; radical; soft; veiny; upper surface smooth, except the mid-rib, which has a few long soft hairs; every part of the under surface, particularly the prominent veins, covered with thick, long, jointed hairs; darkish green above, paler beneath; shorter than the scape. Petiole upper surface flat, underneath acute; smooth above, downy beneath; winged; stained with purplish pink. Stipulas none. Scapes taller than the leaves; slender; pinkish; woolly; numerous; if traced to their base (as Dr. Hooker observes,) they will be found to spring from one common point, and to constitute a sessile umbel. Bracteas one at the bottom of each peduncle; awl-shaped; ciliated at the edge; with a strongly marked central nerve; about an inch long; smooth. Flowers upright; solitary; large, pale yellow; (near Helleston the varieties of