Chapter 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. palustriformis, Gray. The larger form; upper surface of the leaves sparsely and finely hairy; petals 5'' long, oftener bearded, less distinctly veined.--Shaded mossy ground, N. Eng. to Del., and westward.

Var. renifolia, Gray. Slightly or strongly pubescent with soft spreading hairs; leaves round-reniform; petals usually beardless. (V. renifolia, _Gray_.)--Maine to Mass., western N. Y., Lake Superior, etc.

8. V. primulaefolia, L. (PRIMROSE-LEAVED V.) Smooth or a little pubescent; 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._

10. V. rotundifolia, 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. Pubescent 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, pubescent._

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

12. V. pubescens, Ait. (DOWNY YELLOW V.) Softly pubescent (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 pubescent (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 deg. 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_ (1/2' 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. canina, 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. PUBERULA, Watson in herb. Finely puberulent; leaves mostly ovate and acutish with a cordate base, often small; flowers small and mostly cleistogamous.--Sandy or stony shores 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.

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