I Shall attempt in this Paper to prove that the plant called Viola by the Romans, is not, according to the received opinion, our common Violet, but the flower called Iris, and well-known in our English gardens. This idea first occurred to me, when in the winter of 1825-1826 I travelled on horseback over the greater part of Sicily, and observed, that amongst the numerous wild flowers which that genial climate was already bringing forth at that season, there was no Violet to be seen, but, on the other hand, a great abundance of Iris; and I have since been informed that such is likewise the case in southern Italy. This seemed to me to render it improbable, that a plant so common should have been unnoticed by the ancient pastoral poets, and that their strains should be devoted to one apparently of foreign origin, of later introduction, and of less general growth.