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European field pansy

early blue violet, wild dog violet

Habit Puberulent, freely-branched annual, 1-3 dm. tall. Glabrous to densely puberulent perennial from slender rhizomes, from stemless to 10 cm. tall.
Leaves

Leaf blades ovate to lanceolate, coarsely round-toothed, 1-3 cm. long, about equaling the petioles;

stipules very large, laciniate into 5-9 segments, usually with one leaf-like segment nearly as large as the main blade.

Leaves short- to long-petiolate, the blade cordate-ovate to lance-ovate, with fine, rounded teeth, 1-3 cm. long;

stipules liner-lanceolate, 3-10 mm. long, entire to remotely slender-toothed.

Flowers

Flowers long-pedunculate, solitary in the leaf axils, whitish or light yellow with a tinge of blue, the spur short;

sepals lanceolate, about as long as the petals;

style head copiously short-hairy.

Flowers 5-15 mm. long, the spur on the lowest petal slender, over half the length of the petal;

petals blue to deep violet, the lower three with a whitish base penciled in violet, the lateral pair white-bearded;

style head bearded with thick hairs. Some flowers also cleistogamous (do not open up but do self-pollinate and produce seed).

Fruits

Fruit a 3-valved capsule, ovary superior, placentation parieta

Fruit a 3-valved capsule, ovary superior, placentation parietal.

Viola arvensis

Viola adunca

Flowering time March-June April-August
Habitat Fields, roadsides, wastelots, and other disturbed areas where escaping from cultivation. Dry to moist meadows and open woods, from the lowlands to subalpine areas.
Distribution
Occurring chiefly west of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east across most of North America to the Atlantic Coast.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Widely distributed on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east across North America to the Atlantic Coast.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Origin Introduced from Europe Native
Conservation status Not of concern Not of concern
Sibling taxa
V. adunca, V. canadensis, V. flettii, V. glabella, V. howellii, V. lanceolata, V. langsdorffii, V. macloskeyi, V. nephrophylla, V. nuttallii, V. odorata, V. orbiculata, V. palustris, V. pluviae, V. purpurea, V. renifolia, V. riviniana, V. selkirkii, V. sempervirens, V. sheltonii, V. sororia, V. tricolor, V. trinervata, V. ×wittrockiana
V. arvensis, V. canadensis, V. flettii, V. glabella, V. howellii, V. lanceolata, V. langsdorffii, V. macloskeyi, V. nephrophylla, V. nuttallii, V. odorata, V. orbiculata, V. palustris, V. pluviae, V. purpurea, V. renifolia, V. riviniana, V. selkirkii, V. sempervirens, V. sheltonii, V. sororia, V. tricolor, V. trinervata, V. ×wittrockiana
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