A Natural History Bit.
There are a great many violets about here, and the ones we have the most of are the swamp violets and the little ones that grow in the fields. The swamp violets are a very light purple with darker lines on the lower petal. There are from two to twenty violets on one plant. They grow in the woods and in wet places. The white violets also grow in the woods. They are very much smaller, and are entirely white except the lower petal, which has purple lines. They are very sweet. I have never seen more than seven or eight violets on one plant.
There are three other kinds that I know of that grow in the woods. One is the yellow violet. It grows in dry places, and there is usually more than one violet on a stem. The leaves also grow on the stem, instead of starting from the roots, as most others do. The flower is a bright yellow, with purple lines on the lower petal. There is the crow's-foot violet, which grows in dry places and is a deep purple; also a little purple violet whose name I do not know. It grows much like the yellow violet, only it is much smaller, and often grows on rocks where there is very little earth.
The violet that grows in the fields is very small, and is oftenest a deep purple, but sometimes the petals are purple and white mottled together.
H. W. S.
Connecticut.