VIOLA

genus of about 500 species of herbs or low shrubs, including the small, solid-coloured violets and the larger-flowered, often multicoloured violas and pansies. Viola occur naturally worldwide but are found most abundantly in temperate climates, with the greatest variety occurring in the Andes Mountains of South America. They have also been widely cultivated in gardens and nurseries. The popular florist's violets, consisting of several hybrids (many of them V. odorata) are usually called sweet violets. Zygomorphy, or bilateral symmetry, of the viola (Viola), which produces a delicate Wild Viola may be annuals or perennials. Because Viola freely hybridize, however, it is often difficult to identify their species. The flower usually grows singly on a stalk and has five petals, four arranged in unlike pairs, the fifth with a spur (see photograph). The flower's colour is usually blue, violet, lilac, reddish purple, yellow, or white. The leaves may grow on the same stalk as the flower (stemmed Viola) or on separate stalks (stemless Viola). Though the best-known Viola have heart-shaped leaves, the leaves of other species may have different shapes. Typically, Viola grow in meadows or damp woods. All wild species bloom early in the spring, but some cultivated varieties bloom later. Many species have two types of flowers, fertile and infertile. The infertile flower is showy and appears in the spring. The fertile, less conspicuous flower appears in the summer and is completely closed and self-fertilizing. Among the most common North American species are the common blue, or meadow, violet (V. papilionacea) and the bird's-foot violet (V. pedata). The common blue violet grows up to 20 cm (8 inches) tall and has heart-shaped leaves with finely toothed margins. The flowers range in colour from light to deep violet, or they may be white. The bird's-foot violet, a perennial named for its deeply cleft leaves, has variably coloured flowers, with lilac and purple combinations. The pansy (q.v.) is a hybrid that has been grown in gardens for centuries. The so-called African violet (q.v.) belongs not to the order Violales but to Scrophulariales, the figwort order. a shipwrecked young woman, later disguised as a young man, Cesario, in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Viola-Cesario, who provides a startling contrast to Olivia, stands at the centre of the play as Shakespeare's example of reason, intelligence, self-control, and mature love. For her moral stature and wit, Viola ranks with Portia and Rosalind, two other great female characters in Shakespeare's comedies.