2. HUDSNIA, L.

Petals 5, fugacious (lasting but a day), much larger than the calyx.

Stamens 9--30. Style long and slender; stigma minute. Pod oblong, enclosed in the calyx, strictly 1-celled, with 1 or 2 seeds attached near the base of each nerve-like placenta. Embryo coiled into the form of a closed hook.--Bushy heath-like little shrubs (seldom a foot high), covered all over with the small awl-shaped or scale-like alternate persistent downy leaves, producing numerous (small but showy) bright yellow flowers crowded along the upper part of the branches. (Named in honor of _Wm. Hudson_, an early English botanist.)

1. H. ericodes, L. Downy but greenish; leaves slender, awl-shaped, loose; flowers on slender naked stalks; ovary hairy.--Dry sandy soil near the coast, E. Maine to Va.; N. Conway, N. H. (_Miss Minns._) May.

2. H. tomentsa, Nutt. h.o.a.ry with down; leaves oval or narrowly oblong, 1" long, close-pressed and imbricated; flowers sessile or some short-peduncled.--Sandy sh.o.r.es, Maine to Md., and along the Great Lakes to Minn.; rarely on banks of streams inland. May, June.

3. LeCHEA, Kalm. PINWEED.

Petals 3, narrow, flat in the bud, not longer than the calyx, withering-persistent. Stamens 3--12. Style scarcely any; stigmas 3, plumose. Pod globular, partly 3-celled; the 3 broad and thin placentae borne on imperfect part.i.tions, each bearing 2 seeds on the face toward the valve; in our species the placentae curve backward and partly enclose the seeds. Embryo straightish.--Homely perennial herbs, with very small greenish or purplish flowers, in summer. (Named in honor of _John Leche_, a Swedish botanist.)

[*] _p.u.b.escence villous, spreading; leaves oblong; flowers very short-pedicelled in cymulose cl.u.s.ters._

1. L. major, Michx. Stem upright (1--2 high), stout, simple, very leafy, producing slender prostrate branches from the base; leaves elliptical, mucronate-pointed, alternate and opposite or sometimes whorled; flowers densely crowded; pedicels shorter than the very small depressed-globose pod; sepals narrower than its valves.--Sterile grounds; common, especially southward.

[*][*] _p.u.b.escence appressed, leaves narrower; flowers paniculate._

[+] _Leaves comparatively short, broad, and thin; panicles leafy._

2. L. thymiflia, Michx. Erect, about 2 high; stem-leaves oval or oblong (3--6" long), commonly somewhat hairy, some whorled or opposite, those of the rather crowded panicles more linear; pod obovate-globose, one of the narrow outer sepals often longer. (L. Novae-Caesareae, _Austin_.)--Dry grounds near the coast, E. Ma.s.s. to Fla.

[+][+] _Leaves firmer, narrow, the cauline linear to slender-subulate; panicles more naked and racemiform._

[++] _Fruiting calyx globular or broadly ovoid; pod rather large, nearly globose._

3. L. mnor, L. Rather strict, 1 high or more, usually glabrate in age; leaves of radical shoots lanceolate, rigid, 2--3" long, the cauline linear, 6--9" long; pod about 1" high.--Dry and sterile ground; common.

Var. maritima, Gray in herb. Stouter and more rigid, leaves of radical shoots thicker, linear, h.o.a.ry, the cauline p.u.b.erulent or glabrous, calyx canescent. (L. thymifolia, _Pursh._; L. maritima, _Leggett_.)--Sandy soil near the coast, Ma.s.s. to Ga.

4. L. tenuiflia, Michx. Low, slender and diffuse, minutely p.u.b.escent or glabrous; leaves all small and very narrow; flowers mostly on very short pedicels, diffusely racemose-paniculate; sepals without lateral ribs; pod ovoid-globose.--Dry, sterile soil, E. Ma.s.s. to Mo., and southward.

[++][++] _Smaller-flowered; fruiting calyx narrower; pod ellipsoidal._

5. L. racemulsa, Lam. Erect, soft-p.u.b.escent when young, soon nearly glabrous; leaves of radical shoots narrowly oblong, the cauline oblong-linear, 4--6" long; inflorescence loose and diffuse; fruiting calyx glabrous.--Dry and rocky soil, Long Island to Ky., and southward.

ORDER 14. VIOLaCEae. (VIOLET FAMILY.)

_Herbs, with a somewhat irregular 1-spurred corolla of 5 petals, 5 hypogynous stamens with adnate introrse anthers conniving over the pistil, and a 1-celled 3-valved pod with 3 parietal placentae._--Sepals 5, persistent. Petals imbricated in the bud. Stamens with their short and broad filaments continued beyond the anther-cells, and often coherent with each other. Style usually club-shaped, with the simple stigma turned to one side. Valves of the capsule bearing the several-seeded placentae on their middle; after opening, each valve as it dries folds together lengthwise firmly, projecting the seeds. Seeds anatropous, rather large, with a hard seed-coat, and a large and straight embryo nearly as long as the alb.u.men; cotyledons flat.--Leaves alternate, with stipules. Flowers axillary, nodding. (Roots slightly acrid or emetic.)

1. Viola. Sepals auricled. Lower petal spurred. Stamens distinct, the 2 lower spurred.

2. Solea. Sepals not auricled. Petals equal in length. Stamens united into a sheath.

3. Ionidium. Sepals not auricled. Petals very unequal. Filaments distinct, the anthers merely connivent.

1. VOLA, Tourn. VIOLET. HEART'S-EASE.

Sepals extended into ears at the base. Petals somewhat unequal, the lower one spurred at the base. Stamens closely surrounding the ovary, often slightly cohering with each other; the two lower bearing spurs which project into the spur of the corolla. Besides these conspicuous blossoms, which appear in spring, others are produced later (especially in the stemless species), on shorter peduncles or on runners, usually concealed under the leaves; these never open nor develop petals, but are fertilized in the bud, and are far more fruitful than the ordinary blossoms. (The ancient Latin name of the genus.)

-- 1. _Perennials; stipules never leaf-like, the lower more or less scarious._

[*] _Stemless, the leaves and scapes directly from a rootstock or from runners._

[+] _Stigma large, naked, not beaked; stolons none; rootstock short and thick._

1. V. pedata, L. (BIRD-FOOT V.) Nearly smooth; rootstock erect, not scaly; _leaves all 3--5-divided_, or the earliest only parted, the lateral divisions 2--3-parted, all linear or narrowly spatulate, sometimes 2--3-toothed or cut at the apex; flower large, 1' broad, pale or deep lilac-purple or blue.--Sandy or gravelly soil, New Eng. to Minn., and southward.--Var. BiCOLOR, Pursh, a very handsome variety, with the two upper petals deep violet, and as it were velvety, occurs sparingly from Ma.s.s. to Md.; most common in N. J., on shale.

[+][+] _Stigma small, naked, often beaked or pointed._

[++] _Rootstock fleshy and thickened, never filiform nor producing runners; flowers violet or purple (rarely white); lateral petals bearded._

2. V. pedatifida, G. Don. Leaves all palmately or pedately 5--7-parted; divisions 2--3-cleft; lobes linear; otherwise like n. 3. (V.

delphinifolia, _Nutt._)--Rich prairies, or more often in dry poor land, Ill. to Kan. and Minn.

3. V. palmata, L. (COMMON BLUE V.) Glabrous to villous-p.u.b.escent; early leaves roundish-cordate or reniform and merely crenate, the sides rolled inward when young, the later very various, palmately or pedately or hastately lobed or parted, the segments obovate to linear. (V.

cucullata, var. palmata, _Gray_.)--Moist or dryish, especially sterile, ground; very common.

Var. cucullata, Gray. Later leaves merely crenate, not lobed. (V.

cucullata, _Ait._)--Low grounds; common everywhere. Both forms are very variable in the size and shape of the leaves and sepals, and in the size and color of the flowers, which are deep or pale violet-blue or purple, sometimes white or variegated with white.

4. V. sagittata, Ait. (ARROW-LEAVED V.) Smoothish or hairy; leaves on short and margined, or the later often on long and naked petioles, varying from oblong-heart-shaped to halberd-shaped, arrow-shaped, oblong-lanceolate or ovate, denticulate, sometimes cut-toothed near the base, the lateral or occasionally all the (rather large purple-blue) petals bearded; spur short and thick; stigma beaked.--Dry or moist sandy places, New Eng. to Minn., and southward. Some forms pa.s.s into the last.

[++][++] _Rootstocks long and filiform, extensively creeping._

[=] _Flowers blue or purple._

5. V. Selkirkii, Pursh. (GREAT-SPURRED V.) Small and delicate; the filiform rootstock fibrose-rooted, no runners above ground; smooth, except the round-heart-shaped crenate leaves, which are minutely hairy on the upper surface and have a deep narrowed sinus; _spur very large_, thickened at the end, almost as long as the beardless pale violet petals.--Damp and shady soil, N. Maine to W. Ma.s.s., central N. Y., L. Superior (_Robbins_), and northward; rare.--Scapes and petioles 1--2', the leaf --1' long, thin; the spur 3" long. (Eu.)

6. V. pal.u.s.tris, L. (MARSH V.) Smooth; leaves round-heart-shaped and kidney-form, slightly crenate; flowers (small) pale lilac with purple streaks, nearly beardless; _spur very short_ and obtuse.--Alpine summits of the White Mountains, N. H., and high northward. June. (Eu.)

V. ODORaTA, L. (SWEET VIOLET), cultivated in gardens, from Europe, belongs near this group, and is sparingly spontaneous in some places.

[=][=] _Flowers white (small, short-spurred), mostly with brown-purple veins; lateral petals bearded or beardless. Species apparently confluent._

7. V. blanda, Willd. (SWEET WHITE V.) Commonly glabrous; leaves round-heart-shaped or kidney-form; petals mostly beardless, the lower strongly veined.--Damp places, everywhere. Flowers faintly sweet-scented.

Var. pal.u.s.triformis, Gray. The larger form; upper surface of the leaves spa.r.s.ely and finely hairy; petals 5" long, oftener bearded, less distinctly veined.--Shaded mossy ground, N. Eng. to Del., and westward.

Var. reniflia, Gray. Slightly or strongly p.u.b.escent with soft spreading hairs; leaves round-reniform; petals usually beardless. (V. renifolia, _Gray_.)--Maine to Ma.s.s., western N. Y., Lake Superior, etc.

8. V. primulaeflia, L. (PRIMROSE-LEAVED V.) Smooth or a little p.u.b.escent; leaves oblong or ovate, abrupt or somewhat heart-shaped at the base; petals often acute, the lateral ones usually sparingly bearded.--Damp or dry soil, N. Eng. to Fla., toward the coast.

9. V. lanceolata, L. (LANCE-LEAVED VIOLET.) Smooth; leaves lanceolate, erect, blunt, tapering into a long-margined petiole, almost entire; petals beardless.--Damp soil; common, especially eastward.

[=][=][=] _Flowers yellow._