Two new violets from the eastern United States

Vol. XV, ^pp. 201-203

October

10, 1902

PROCEEDINGS

OF THE

BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON

TWO NEW VIOLETS FROM THE EASTERN UNITED

STATES.*

BY CHARLES LOUIS POLLARD.

Viola tenuipes.

Stem

_simple, erect, 8-L5cm. _high, from a short horizontal or ascend- ing knotted rootstock emitting

numerous

_long, thick fibrous _roots;

leaves, 3 to5, usually^4, borneatthe

summitof

the stem; bladesglabrate, ovate-lanceolateorhastate-lanceolate,with atruncate base

and

acute apex, the margins repand-denticulate; stipules ovate,

membranaceous:

petiole 1-L5 cm. _long, appreciably shorter than the blade; flowers on filiform peduncles exceeding the leaves; sepals irregular, fromlinear- ovateto linear; corollayellow,

L5

cm. broad, the petals narrow, beard- less, andquite ^freefrom markings; capsulessmooth, ^ovoid.

Indrysoil, northern Georgia

and Alabama

to Florida.

Type

from, Chattalioochee, Florida, March, 1897 in the

Chapman

herbarium,

now

the property^ofthe Biltmore herbarium.

The

_{type sheet} ^is a remark- ably full one, bearing twelveindividualsofuniformsize

and

characters except that the rootstock^of oneoftheseproduces

two

stemsinplace ^of a solitary one.

A

photograph^ofthetype^sheetisdepositedⁱⁿthe U.S.

NationalHerbarium.

The

species^isalsoAvellrepresentedbycollections

made

atAuburn, Alabama, April ^11, 1899,

by

^{Mrs. F.S. Earle; at Cull-} man, Alabama,

May

^1,1901,byrepresentatives^oftheBiltmore

Herbarium;

at Tuscaloosa,

Alabama, by

^{Professor Lester F.}

Ward;

^and at

Rome,

Georgia,

by

^Dr.

Chapman.

*Published here

by

permission^ofthe Secretary^oftheSmithsonianIn- stitution.

40—Biol. Soc. Wash.Vol. XV, ^{1902. (201)}

202 Pollard —

Tico JSFev:' Violets.

The

publication^{of this}species^istheresvilt of a critical study ^{of the} violets belonging ^{to the hastata} group ^{in the South,} wherein

my ^own

fieldobservationshave been supplemented by information kindly given

me

_by othercollectors. For

many

years ^{Elliott's V.} triimrtita

was

re-

garded^asa variety^{of V.Iiantata,} although^themostsuperficialexamina- tion ofthe rootstockⁱⁿthe

two

_species ought ^to have _dispelledsuch

an

opinion. Yet even after Dr. Small

had

demonstratedthischaracter^it

was

noticeabletosouthernbotanistsat leastthat certain formsremained

which

could not wellbe_disposed ^{of in} connection with ^{either of} these species.

More

_recentlyMr.

Roland

M. Harper* attempted ^{to solve the} difficulty

by

^thereinstatement^ofGingins' ^V. hastata glaberrima\,

which

hetreatedasanentireleaved variety ^of tripartita, remarking ^{in this} connection: ^"It differs

from

typical tripartita in having^leavesallun- divided

and

_glabrous, butisinother respectsvery^{similar. It} seems to extend farther south than the _type, and ^is the plant

which was

taken for V. hastata in Florida."

But

Mr.

Harper

^{has here fallen intothe} very^{naturalerror of}placingⁱⁿa_singlecategory^allthe plants with un- dividedleaves, regardless^ofrange,

and

hisstatementin the concluding portion^ofabove quoted paragraph^{isalsoatrifletoo broad.}

While much

of the material referred by ^Dr.

Chapman

^{to V.} hastata glaherrimahas nothingin

common

withhastata,thelatterspeciesdoes,notwithstanding, occurin Florida, as^isabundantly proven by ^excellent specimens ^inthe Biltmore Herbarium, ^collectedinLiberty County.

A mere

_glance at the whitish, succulent, tuberousrootstockis sufficient to establish the identityof this species.

Letus

now examine

therange^ofthedubious forms under considera- tion.

The

typeof V. tripartita

came

from Athens, Georgia, and the specieshasbeen collected there

by many

^differentpersons since^Elliott's day, ^sothat

we

have nodifficulty inestablishing apositive diagnosis ^of

its'characters.

North

of thispoint^itranges through ^themountainsof North

and

^{South Carolina and eastern Tennessee, being}

common

near Biltmore, N.

C, where

^{I have} carefully studiedit.

Throughout

^this range,

and

_nearlyalways^associatedwith the typical form, ^as

shown by

notesoncollector's labels, ^is aplant^of almost identical appearance, ex- cept that the leavesareundivided and haveatendency^to

become

glabrous with_age. Thisisthe true glaberrima,

which may

^wellstandasa variety of tripartita,

where

ithas been_placed

by

Mr. Harper.

If

now we examine

the collections from southofAthens,

we

findan entire-leaved yellow-flowered ^violet represented ⁱⁿ abundance, but no tripartita. ^Itisthisplant

which was

^{familiartoDr.}

Chapman

^inFlorida, and

which

Mr.

Harper

^hasconfused withthe

more

northerly form. ^V.

tripartita anditsvariety are relativelytall, coarse_plants, evenat flower- ing time, having^flowerswiththecorolla distinctlyveined,

and

withrather broad_sepals. Thisvioletisveryslender, of remarkably uniform ^size, withsmallerflowers, quite

immaculate

petals, and leaves strongly sug-

*Bull. Torr. Club. 27: 337. 1900.

fGingins^{inD. 0.Prodr. 1:300. 1824.}

Pollard —

Tico

New

Violets.

203

gesting thoseof hastata, whilethe leavesof tripartita glaherriniavesBvahle rather those of V. scabriuscula in shape. This _species,

which

I

havedescribedaboveunderthe

name

_tenuipes,^isof southern range ^ex- clusively.

From

the truehastata,

which

alsooccursinFlorida, ^it

may

bedistinguishedbythe rootstock,

which

isofthe

same

_type as that of trii^artita.

Iwishtoexpress

my

appreciation of the courtesy^ofMr. C. D. Beadle, CuratoroftheBiltmore Herbarium, ^forthe loanof

many

^sheetsofspeci- mens, andtoMr.

Frank

_Boynton, ofthe

same

institution, for assistance in fieldwork.

Viola Mulfordae.

Acaulescent, tufted, from ashort, thick

and

_nearlyvertical caudex:

scapes

and

foliage finely puberulent; leaf-blades oblong^orovate-oblong outline, in the earliest 1.5-2 cm., the latter 3-4 cm. _long; themargins coarsely crenate,frequently incised ^atbase with oneor

more

lobes, the apex veryobtuse; petioles abovittwice the length ^of the blades; scapes 12-15cm. _high, surpassing theleaves; flowersdeepviolet-purple, nearly 2cm. broad; sepalslinear-lanceolate, finely ciliate; petals obovate, very obtuse, copiouslybeardedatthebase with_glisteningwhite_{hairs; scapes} of the cleistogenes evidently ^erect.

Type, No. ^{404,998in the}UnitedStatesNational Herbarium, collected

by

^{Miss F. A. Mulford at}

Hempstead

Plains,

Long

Island, N. Y.,

May

13, 1902.

The

speciesbelongs^tothe coastal plain region, ^its afBnities being with ^V. Brittoniana, with

which

itisfound growing. Miss Mul- ford

was

thefirsttodetectthe obvious differences in both ^flowers

and

foliage,

and

afterafullseason's observation of both _plants in the field concluded that they should not be referred to the

same

_species. In recognition^ofher _courtesy in contributmg ^material

and

the result of herinvestigations, ^Itake pleasureⁱⁿ

naming

the plant^asabove. Itwill be

remembered

thatthe leaves of V. Brittoniana are distinctlyovate in outline

and

_pinnatelylobed, whilethe flowers are ofanothershade,

and

donot exhibit the white pubescence.