in botany: A genus of plants of the class syngenesia, order monogynia; in the natural system arranged under the 29th order, Compositae. The calyx is pentaphyllous; the corolla five petaled, irregular, with a nectarium behind, horn-shaped; the capsule is above the germen, three valved, monocarpic. There are 28 species; six of which are natives of Britain. The most important of these are:

1. The pauciflora, marsh violet. The leaves are smooth, reniform, two or three on each footstalk; flowers pale blue, small, inodorous. An infusion of the flowers is an excellent test of the presence of acids and alkalis.

2. The odorata, purple sweet violet, has leaves heart-shaped, notched; flowers deep purple, single; creeping scions. The flowers of this plant taken in the quantity of a dram or two are said to be gently purgative or laxative; and, according to Bergius and some others, they possess an anodyne and pectoral quality.

3. Tricolor, panicles, heart's-ease, or three faces under a hood. The stems are diffuse, procumbent, triangular; the leaves oblong, cut at the edges; flowers dentated: the flowers purple, yellow, and light blue; inodorous.

This elegant little plant merits culture in every garden, for the beauty and great variety of its three-coloured flowers; and it will succeed anywhere in the open borders, or other compartments, dispoked in patches towards the front; either by lowering the feed at once to remain, or by putting in young plants previously raised in a seed-bed: they will begin flowering early in summer, and will continue shooting and flowering in succession till winter; and even during part of that season in mild weather.

The common violet is propagated by parting the roots, sometimes by seed.