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Baker's violet, yellow prairie violet

New England blue violet, New England violet

Habit Plants perennial, caulescent, not stoloniferous, 3–30 cm. Plants perennial, acaulescent, not stoloniferous, 5–50 cm; rhizomes thick, fleshy.
Stems

1–4, usually erect, sometimes prostrate or decumbent, leafy proximally and distally, usually puberulent, from usually vertical, subligneous rhizome.

Leaves

basal and cauline;

basal: 1–4;

stipules adnate to petiole, forming 2 linear-lanceolate wings, margins entire, apex of each wing free, acute to acuminate;

petiole 1–15.4 cm, glabrous or puberulent;

blade lanceolate, oblanceolate, or elliptic, rarely ovate, 1.8–8.8 × 0.7–3.9 cm, thin, base attenuate, often oblique, margins usually entire, sometimes with a few sharp teeth or crenulate, ciliate, apex acute to obtuse, mucronulate, surfaces glabrous or puberulent on margins or veins;

cauline similar to basal except: stipules ovate to lanceolate, margins entire or lacerate, sometimes with glandular projections, apex with 2–3 projections;

petiole 1.5–7.5 cm;

blade 1.9–6.7 × 0.5–1.6 cm.

basal, 2–8, ascending to erect;

stipules linear-lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, margins entire, sometimes distally glandular, apex acute;

petiole 5–25 cm, densely pubescent;

blade unlobed, narrowly ovate to narrowly deltate, 3.5–7 × 2–5 cm, base cordate, margins uniformly crenate to serrate, ciliate or eciliate, apex acute, surfaces usually glabrous, rarely pubescent.

Peduncles

1.5–11.6 cm, glabrous or pubescent.

3–25 cm, glabrous or pubescent.

Flowers

sepals lanceolate, margins eciliate, auricles 0.5–1 mm;

petals deep lemon-yellow adaxially, upper 2 often brownish purple abaxially, lower 3 dark brown- to brownish purple-veined, lateral 2 sparsely bearded, lowest 6–14 mm, spur yellow, gibbous, 1–2 mm;

style head bearded; cleistogamous flowers axillary.

sepals lanceolate to ovate, margins ciliate or eciliate, auricles 1–2 mm;

petals light to dark blue- or dark purple-violet or reddish purple, lowest and sometimes lateral 2 purple-veined, lateral 2 bearded, lowest bearded or beardless, 15–25 mm, spur same color as petals, gibbous, 2–3 mm;

style head beardless; cleistogamous flowers on prostrate to ascending peduncles.

Capsules

spherical to ovoid, 5–10 mm, usually glabrous, rarely finely puberulent.

ellipsoid, 5–12 mm, glabrous.

Seeds

light to medium brown or dark red-brown, 2.6–3.1 mm, elaiosome not covering funiculus.

beige, mottled to bronze, 1.5–2.5 mm.

2n

= 48.

= 54.

Viola bakeri

Viola novae-angliae

Phenology Flowering May–Jul. Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Wet and dry places in openings of coniferous forests Gravelly, wet, rocky shores of lakes and streams, meadows
Elevation 900–3800 m (3000–12500 ft) 0–100 m (0–300 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; NV; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
ME; MI; MN; WI; MB; NB; ON; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

M. S. Baker (1957) wrote that Viola bakeri flowers were often without a brownish tinge on the back. Subsequent collections have shown that the upper two petals of V. bakeri are often brownish purple abaxially and thus this characteristic cannot be used to distinguish V. bakeri from V. praemorsa, as previously done (P. A. Munz 1959; C. L. Hitchcock et al. 1955–1969, vol. 3).

Greene wrote in his description of Viola bakeri that the whole plant was glabrous; he did not mention leaf margins. M. S. Baker (1957) examined the type specimen at UC and apparently was the first to document that its leaf margins are entire. He also noted that under magnification the leaves are ciliate and more or less puberulent. D. M. Fabijan et al. (1987) stated that margins were always entire and ciliate and more or less pubescent throughout. Some collections of V. bakeri

from California have leaves with a sharp point or two on the margin, or crenulations on some portion of the basal or cauline blade margins.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

L. E. McKinney (1992) considered Viola novae-angliae to be a variety of V. sororia; N. L. Gil-Ad (1997) treated it as a distinct species. H. E. Ballard and S. C. Gawler (1994) also considered V. novae-angliae distinct and suggested it might be a hybrid between V. sagittata and V. sororia. Viola novae-angliae appears to have a close affinity with V. sororia; we recognize them here as separate species.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 6, p. 121. FNA vol. 6, p. 139.
Parent taxa Violaceae > Viola Violaceae > Viola
Sibling taxa
V. adunca, V. affinis, V. arvensis, V. beckwithii, V. bicolor, V. biflora, V. blanda, V. brittoniana, V. canadensis, V. canina, V. charlestonensis, V. clauseniana, V. cucullata, V. cuneata, V. douglasii, V. egglestonii, V. epipsila, V. flettii, V. frank-smithii, V. glabella, V. guadalupensis, V. hallii, V. hastata, V. hirsutula, V. howellii, V. japonica, V. labradorica, V. lanceolata, V. langsdorffii, V. lithion, V. lobata, V. macloskeyi, V. missouriensis, V. nephrophylla, V. novae-angliae, V. nuttallii, V. ocellata, V. odorata, V. orbiculata, V. palmata, V. palustris, V. pedata, V. pedatifida, V. pedunculata, V. pinetorum, V. praemorsa, V. primulifolia, V. prionantha, V. pubescens, V. purpurea, V. quercetorum, V. renifolia, V. riviniana, V. rostrata, V. rotundifolia, V. sagittata, V. selkirkii, V. sempervirens, V. septemloba, V. sheltonii, V. sororia, V. striata, V. subsinuata, V. tomentosa, V. tricolor, V. trinervata, V. tripartita, V. umbraticola, V. utahensis, V. vallicola, V. villosa, V. walteri
V. adunca, V. affinis, V. arvensis, V. bakeri, V. beckwithii, V. bicolor, V. biflora, V. blanda, V. brittoniana, V. canadensis, V. canina, V. charlestonensis, V. clauseniana, V. cucullata, V. cuneata, V. douglasii, V. egglestonii, V. epipsila, V. flettii, V. frank-smithii, V. glabella, V. guadalupensis, V. hallii, V. hastata, V. hirsutula, V. howellii, V. japonica, V. labradorica, V. lanceolata, V. langsdorffii, V. lithion, V. lobata, V. macloskeyi, V. missouriensis, V. nephrophylla, V. nuttallii, V. ocellata, V. odorata, V. orbiculata, V. palmata, V. palustris, V. pedata, V. pedatifida, V. pedunculata, V. pinetorum, V. praemorsa, V. primulifolia, V. prionantha, V. pubescens, V. purpurea, V. quercetorum, V. renifolia, V. riviniana, V. rostrata, V. rotundifolia, V. sagittata, V. selkirkii, V. sempervirens, V. septemloba, V. sheltonii, V. sororia, V. striata, V. subsinuata, V. tomentosa, V. tricolor, V. trinervata, V. tripartita, V. umbraticola, V. utahensis, V. vallicola, V. villosa, V. walteri
Synonyms V. bakeri subsp. shastensis, V. nuttallii var. bakeri V. septentrionalis var. grisea, V. sororia var. grisea, V. sororia var. novae-angliae
Name authority Greene: Pittonia 3: 307. (1898) House: Rhodora 6: 226, plate 59. (1904)
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