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European field pansy

marsh violet

Habit Puberulent, freely-branched annual, 1-3 dm. tall. Glabrous perennial from slender, widespread rhizomes, with creeping stolons, the petioles and peduncles rising from the rhizomes.
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.

Leaf blades cordate to reniform, 2.5-3.5 cm. broad, with coarse, rounded teeth;

petioles up to 15 cm. long;

stipules chaffy, lanceolate, entire.

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 10-13 mm. long, the peduncle about the same length as the leaves;

petals white to lilac, the lower 3 purple-penciled, the lateral pair sparsely bearded;

style head glabrous, lobed.

Fruits

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

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

Viola arvensis

Viola palustris

Flowering time March-June May - July
Habitat Fields, roadsides, wastelots, and other disturbed areas where escaping from cultivation. Moist meadows and streambanks, low to mid-elevations in the mountains
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]
Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to the Rocky Mountains, northern Great Plains, northeastern North America, and Eurasia.
[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. adunca, 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. 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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