Near by, perhaps, grows the lance-leaved violet, also white and sweet-scented. This species produces runners which root at the joints, and bear small, apetalous blossoms (cleis-togamous), which pollinate themselves beneath the closed calyx:

Ordinary flowers white, larger than the last, the lower and side petals sometimes streaked with purple or crimson. Leaves, all from the root, on very long petioles, with lance-shaped blades, finely serrate. April to June.

Erect, 2 to 6 inches high, in wet meadows, bogs, and on banks of streams. Maine to Minnesota and southward.

V. blanda. - Upper petals long and narrow, twisted backward. Leaves, broad, roundish, heart-shaped at base, on long petioles, their midribs often tinted with red. Slender, leafy runners are produced in summer, after the blossoming season is over.

This is one of our smallest violets, and, on account of its faint, sweet scent, one of our dearest. We all know the mossy, damp place in which it can be found in April and May, and one of our earliest spring walks is directed thither. (Sec illustration, p. 93.)