YELLOW PANSY.
Viola pedunculata, Torr. and Gray. Violet Family.
Stems.—Leafy; two to six inches or more high. Leaves.—Alternate; long-petioled; ovate; cuneate; crenate; with lanceolate stipules. Flowers.—Large; long-peduncled; deep golden yellow. Calyx.—Five-parted. Petals.—The two upper tinged with brown outside; the three lower veined with purple; the two lateral bearded; the lower one with a short spur at base. Stamens.—Five. Anthers nearly sessile; erect around the club-shaped style. Ovary.—One-celled. Hab.—Southern to Middle California.
Pansies! Pansies! How I love you, pansies! Jaunty-faced, laughing-lipped, and dewy-eyed with glee; Would my song might blossom out in little five-leaved stanzas As delicate in fancies As your beauty is to me!
But, my eyes shall smile on you and my hands infold you, Pet, caress, and lift you to the lips that love you, so That, shut ever in the years that may mildew or mold you, My fancy shall behold you Fair as in the long ago.
—Jas. Whitcomb Riley.
On wind-swept downs near the ocean, on the low hills of the Coast Ranges, or upon the plains of the interior, this charming golden pansy spreads itself in profusion in early spring. It is the darling of the children, who on their way to school gather great handfuls of its brown-eyed blossoms.
You may often see myriads of them dancing on their long stems in the breeze, and showing glimpses of red-brown where their purplish outer petals are turned toward you for the moment. In the shelter of quiet woodlands, its stems are longer and more fragile.
![[YELLOW PANSY—Viola pedunculata.]](#3624944100741987669_f040.png.id-7385089661829414999.wrap-0.html.html){kind=link}