HESPERIS, DAME'S VIOLET, in botany, a genus of the tetradymania filiquosa class. The petals are obliquely bent; there is a gland betwixt the short stamens: and the stigma is forked at the base, and connivent at top. There are seven species, only one of which, viz. the martronalis, or unfavoury dame's violet, is a native of Britain.