10. V. rotundiflia, Michx. (ROUND-LEAVED VIOLET.) Leaves round-ovate, heart-shaped, slightly crenate; lateral petals bearded and marked with brown lines; spur very short.--Cold woods, Maine to Minn., and south along the Alleghanies.--Smoothish; leaves 1' broad at flowering, increasing to 3 or 4' in the summer, then lying flat on the ground, shining above.

[*][*] _Leafy-stemmed; all perennial with short rootstocks._

[+] _Low, at first nearly stemless; flowers yellow; stigma concave, bearded._

11. V. Nuttallii, Pursh. p.u.b.escent or nearly glabrous; leaves ovate to oblong-lanceolate, obtuse, entire or slightly crenate, decurrent on the petiole.--Central Kansas and westward.

[+][+] _Stems erect, without root-leaves; stipules entire; spur very short; stigma beakless, p.u.b.escent._

[++] _Stems naked below; flowers yellow._

12. V. p.u.b.escens, Ait. (DOWNY YELLOW V.) Softly p.u.b.escent (6--12' high); _leaves very broadly heart-shaped_, toothed, somewhat pointed; stipules ovate or ovate-lanceolate, large; lower petals veined with purple, capsule oblong to globular, glabrous or tomentose.--Woods; common.--Var.

SCABRIuSCULA, Torr. & Gray, smaller and greener, slightly p.u.b.escent (4--10' high).--R. I. to Ky., and southwestward.

13. V. hastata, Michx. (HALBERD-LEAVED V.) Nearly glabrous, slender (4--10' high); _stem-leaves halberd-shaped_ or oblong-heart-shaped, slightly serrate, acute; stipules ovate, small.--Woods, N. Ohio (near Painesville, _Miss Shattuck_), mountains of Penn., and southward; rare.

[++][++] _Stems more leafy and prolonged; flowers white or purplish._

14. V. Canadensis, L. (CANADA V.) Upright (1--2 high); leaves heart-shaped, pointed, serrate; stipules ovate-lanceolate, entire; petals white or whitish inside, the upper ones mostly tinged with violet beneath, the lateral bearded.--Rich woods; common northward and along the Alleghanies. May--Aug.

[+][+][+] _Stems erect or spreading (at first nearly acaulescent); stipules fringe-toothed; spur oblong to cylindrical; stigma naked._

15. V. striata, Ait. (PALE V.) Stems angular, ascending (6--10' high); leaves heart-shaped, finely serrate, often acute; stipules oblong-lanceolate, large; _spur thickish, much shorter than the cream-colored or white petals_, the lateral ones bearded, the lower striped with purplish lines; stigma beaked.--Low grounds, W. New Eng. to Minn. and Mo., and southward in the mountains. April--Oct.

16. V. rostrata, Pursh. (LONG-SPURRED V.) Stems ascending (3--6' high); leaves roundish-heart-shaped, serrate, the upper acute; stipules lanceolate, large; _spur slender_ (' long), _longer than the pale violet beardless petals_; style straight and slender; stigma terminal, beakless.--Shaded hillsides, N. New Eng. to Mich., and southward in the Alleghanies; rather rare. June, July.

17. V. canna, L., var. Muhlenbergii, Gray. (DOG V.) Low (3--8' high), mostly glabrous; stems ascending, mostly simple, from the base at length producing creeping branches; leaves heart-shaped, or the lowest kidney-form, crenate, the uppermost slightly pointed; stipules lanceolate; _spur cylindrical, half the length of the light violet petals_, the lateral ones slightly bearded; stigma beaked.--Damp or wet shady places; common. May--July. (Eu.)--Var. p.u.b.eRULA, Watson in herb.

Finely p.u.b.erulent; leaves mostly ovate and acutish with a cordate base, often small; flowers small and mostly cleistogamous.--Sandy or stony sh.o.r.es and islands of Lakes Huron and Superior. (_Robbins, Engelmann, etc._)--Var. MULTICAuLIS, Gray. Depressed and stoloniferous; flowers mostly cleistogamous; leaves small, suborbicular to reniform.--Ky. to Fla. and Tex.

-- 2. _Leaf-bearing throughout from an annual, biennial, or sometimes short-lived perennial root; the stipules large, leaf-like and lyrate-pinnatifid._

V. TRiCOLOR, L. (PANSY. HEART'S-EASE.) Stem angled and branched; leaves roundish, or the upper oval and the lowest heart-shaped, crenate or entire; petals variable in color or variegated (yellow, whitish, violet-blue and purple);--in var. ARVeNSIS shorter or little longer than the calyx.--Dry or sandy soil, N. Y. to Iowa, Kan., and southward; the variety sometimes seeming like a native plant. April--Sept. (Nat. from Eu.)

2. SLEA, Spreng., in part. GREEN VIOLET.

Sepals not prolonged at the base. Petals nearly equal in length, but the lower one larger and gibbous or saccate at the base, more notched than the others at the apex. Stamens completely united into a sheath enclosing the ovary, and bearing a broad gland on the lower side. Style hooked at the summit.--A homely perennial herb, with stems leafy to the top, and 1--3 small greenish-white flowers in the axils, on short recurved pedicels. (Named in honor of _W. Sole_, author of an essay on the British Mints.)

1. S. concolor, Ging. Plant 1--2 high; leaves oblong, pointed at both ends, entire; pod 1' long.--Woods, N. Y. to Kan., and southward. June.

3. IONiDIUM, Vent.

Sepals not prolonged at base. Petals very unequal, the two upper shorter, the lower longest and largest, concave at base, contracted in the middle. Filaments distinct, the two lower with a scale-like gland or spur at base; anthers merely connivent.--Perennials, branching and leafy, with alternate and opposite leaves, and small axillary flowers.

(Name from ???, _violet_, and e?d??, _appearance_.)

1. I. polygalaeflium, Vent. Stems low, from a woody base; leaves linear to oblanceolate, or the lower obovate, entire, the stipules leaf-like or small or none; flowers solitary, nodding, 2" long, white. (I. lineare, _Torr._)--Kan. and southwestward.

ORDER 15. CARYOPHYLLaCEae. (PINK FAMILY.)

_Herbs, with opposite entire leaves, symmetrical 4--5-merous flowers, with or without petals, the distinct stamens no more than twice the number of the sepals, either hypogynous or perigynous, styles 2--5 (or rarely united into one); seeds several or usually many, attached to the base or to the central column of the 1-celled (rarely 3--5-celled) pod, with a slender embryo coiled or curved around the outside of mealy alb.u.men_, in Dianthus nearly straight.--Bland herbs; the stems usually swollen at the joints; uppermost leaves rarely alternate. Leaves often united at the base. Calyx persistent. Styles stigmatic along the inside. Seeds amphitropous or campylotropous.

Tribe I. SILENEae. Sepals united into a tube or cup. Petals (mostly convolute in the bud) and stamens (10) borne on the stipe or stalk of the ovary, the former with slender claws, to the base of which the corresponding filaments often adhere, included in the calyx tube. Seeds numerous.--Stipules none. Flowers often large and showy.

[*] Calyx with scaly bractlets or small leaves at the base. Seeds flattened on the back, attached by their face; embryo nearly straight.

1. Dianthus. Calyx terete, mostly cylindrical. Styles 2.

[*][*] Calyx naked. Seeds globular or kidney-shaped; embryo curved or coiled.

2. Gypsophila. Calyx top-shaped or campanulate. Pod deeply 4-valved.

Styles 2.

3. Saponaria. Calyx oblong-cylindrical, obscurely nerved, terete or 5-angled. Pod shortly 4-valved. Styles 2.

4. Silene. Calyx 5-toothed, 10-nerved. Styles 3.

5. Lychnis. Calyx 5-toothed, 10-nerved. Styles 5, rarely 4.

Tribe II. ALSINEae. Sepals distinct or nearly so, imbricated in the bud.

Petals when present without claws, mostly imbricated, and with the stamens inserted at the base of the sessile ovary, or into a little disk. Pod splitting into valves or teeth several--many-seeded. Stamens opposite the sepals, when not more in number.--Low herbs.

[*] Stipules none.

[+] Styles opposite the sepals, or, when fewer, opposite those which are exterior in the bud.

[++] Pod short, splitting into as many valves as styles; valves often bifid or 2-parted.

6. Arenaria. Petals entire. Styles usually 3. Valves of the pod entire, bifid or 2-parted.

7. Stellaria. Petals 2-cleft or none. Styles usually 3. Valves bifid or 2-parted.

[++][++] Pod cylindrical, dehiscent by twice as many equal teeth as styles.

8. Holosteum. Petals denticulate or notched. Styles usually 3. Seeds fixed by the face.

9. Cerastium. Petals notched or 2-cleft. Styles 5 or 4. Seeds fixed edgewise.

[+][+] Styles alternate with the sepals. Stamens as many, or twice as many.

10. Sagina. Petals 4 or 5, entire, or none. Styles 4 or 5. Pod short, 4--5-valved.

[*][*] Stipules present. Pod short.

11. Buda. Styles 3. Pod 3-valved. Leaves opposite.

12. Spergula. Styles 5. Valves of the pod opposite the sepals. Leaves whorled.