2693
V I O L A Curtisii.
Yellow Sea Pansy.
PENTANDRIA Monogynia.
Gen.Char. Cal. 5-leaved, lengthened out at the base.
Pet. 5, irregular, the lowermost spurred behind.
Anthers slightly cohering. Caps, superior, of one
cell with three valves.
Spec. Char. Stem decumbent, angular, rough. Leaves
oblong, crenate, naked. Leafstalks hairy. Stipu-
las palmate; lobes acuminated, ciliated. Bracteas
minute. Spur the length of the calyx.
F o u n d on Braunton-boroughs in Devonshire in great
abundance, where it was gathered by the late William
Curtis, and introduced into his garden by the name of Viola
littoralis. This name having since been given to another
species, an opportunity is afforded of commemorating the
accurate and discriminating author of the Flora Londinensis,
the original discoverer of this pretty little Pansy, which enlivens
the turfy spots of the Boroughs by its delicate yellow
flowers, seldom rising much above two inches, though on a
bank towards the sea it grows more luxuriantly: it also
occurs sparingly on a wall on the opposite shore of Instow,
at the junction of the rivers Taw and Torridge with the
ocean. I have a specimen gathered in Ireland by Mr.
Joseph Woods, which appears to me to be the same.
Roots fibrous; stems purplish, decumbent, branching at
the root, simple aboveground, leafy, angular, rough with minute
short hairs. Leaves alternate, stalked, oblong, crenate,
smooth, not ciliated. Leaf-stalks hairy. Stipulas large,
palmate; lobes narrow, terminated by a point, ciliated,