WHITE VIOLETS

(Viola) Violet family



Three small-flowered, white, purple-veined, and almost beardless

species which prefer to dwell in moist meadows, damp, mossy

places, and along the borders of streams, are the LANCE-LEAVED

VIOLET (V. lanceolata), the PRIMROSE-LEAVED VIOLET (V.

prirnulaefolia), and the SWEET WHITE VIOLET (V. blanda), whose

leaves show successive gradations from the narrow, tapering,

smooth, long-petioled blades of the first to the oval form of the

second and the almost circular, cordate leaf of the delicately

fragrant, little white blanda, the dearest violet of all.

Inasmuch as these are short-spurred species, requiring no effort

for bees to drain their nectaries, no footholds in the form of

beards on the side petals are provided for them. The purple

veinings show the stupidest visitor the path to the sweets.



The sprightly CANADA VIOLET (V. Canadensis), widely distributed

in woodlands, chiefly in hilly and mountainous regions, rears

tall, leafy stems terminated by faintly fragrant white or pale

lavender blossoms, purple-tinged without and purple veined, the

side petals bearded, the long sepals tapering to sharp points.

Here we see a violet in the process of changing from the white

ancestral type to the purple color which Sir John Lubbock, among

other scientists, considers the highest step in chromatic

evolution. This species has heart-shaped, saw-edged leaves which

taper acutely. From May even to July is its regular blooming

season; but the delightful family eccentricity of flowering again

in autumn appears to be a confirmed habit with the Canada violet.