Viola blanda |
Viola praemorsa |
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sweet white violet, violette agréable |
Astoria violet, Canary violet, marsh violet, upland yellow violet, yellow montane violet |
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Habit | Plants perennial, acaulescent, stoloniferous, 3–20 cm; stolons pale, often rooting and leafy at nodes; rhizome short, slender, fleshy. | Plants perennial, caulescent, not stoloniferous, 5.5–36.5 cm. | ||||||||
Stems | 1–3(–5), prostrate, decumbent, or erect, leafy proximally and distally, glabrous or puberulent, on caudex from usually vertical, subligneous rhizome. |
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Leaves | basal, 2–9, prostrate to ascending; stipules linear-lanceolate, margins entire, apex acute; petiole 2–11 cm, usually sparsely pubescent; blade unlobed, reniform to ovate, 2–4 × 2–4 cm, base cordate, lobes often overlapping, margins serrate, ciliate or eciliate, apex rounded or acute to acuminate, surfaces sometimes glabrous, usually sparsely pubescent adaxially. |
basal and cauline; basal: 1–5; stipules adnate to proximal 1/3 of petiole, forming 2 narrow, linear-lanceolate wings, margins entire, apex of each wing free, acute; petiole 2.6–19.2 cm, glabrous or densely puberulent; blade usually elliptic to ovate, sometimes oblong-lanceolate to ± orbiculate, 1.7–14(–17) × 0.8–5.3(–6.7) cm, base attenuate to ± truncate or subcordate, often oblique, margins usually crenate, serrulate, or serrate, sometimes entire, ciliate or eciliate, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces glabrous or densely puberulent; cauline similar to basal except: stipules lanceolate to ovate, margins entire or toothed, with or without gland-tipped projections, apex acute to acuminate; petiole 1.3–16.2 cm, glabrous or puberulent; blade 2.3–11(–14.8) × 1.1–3.6(–5.5) cm, length 1.1–6.5 times width. |
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Peduncles | 3–11 cm, glabrous or pubescent. |
4.4–27 cm, glabrous or puberulent. |
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Flowers | sepals lanceolate to ovate, margins mostly eciliate, auricles 1–2 mm; petals white on both surfaces, lower 3 purple-veined, lateral 2 usually beardless, lowest 8–10 mm, spur white, gibbous, 1–2 mm; style head beardless; cleistogamous flowers axillary. |
sepals lanceolate, margins eciliate, auricles 1–2 mm; petals deep lemon-yellow adaxially, upper 2, and sometimes lateral 2, brownish purple abaxially, lower 3 brownish purple-veined, lateral 2 sparsely bearded, lowest 11–19 mm, spur yellow or pale green, gibbous, 0.5–3 mm; style head bearded; cleistogamous flowers axillary. |
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Capsules | ovoid to ellipsoid, 4–6 mm, glabrous. |
ellipsoid to oblong, 6–14 mm, glabrous or finely puberulent. |
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Seeds | beige to bronze, 1.5–2 mm. |
medium to dark brown or red-brown, 2–3 mm, elaiosome completely covering funiculus. |
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2n | = 44, 48. |
= 36, 48. |
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Viola blanda |
Viola praemorsa |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | |||||||||
Habitat | Rich woods | |||||||||
Elevation | 30–2000 m (100–6600 ft) | |||||||||
Distribution |
AL; CT; DC; DE; GA; IA; IL; IN; KY; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; NC; ND; NH; NJ; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; VT; WI; WV; AB; MB; NB; NL; NS; ON; PE; QC; SK
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CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC
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Discussion | Viola blanda occurs in small colonies; individual plants are interconnected by stolons. Whether to recognize Viola incognita at any taxonomic level is currently unresolved. It is said to have pubescent leaf blades, greenish peduncles, nontwisted lateral petals, and a preference for moister habitats. Most of these characters fall within the range of variation observed in V. blanda. N. H. Russell (1965) noted that Viola incognita is principally found in glaciated areas whereas V. blanda is found in nonglaciated areas. Á. Löve and D. Löve (1982b) and J. M. Canne (1987) reported a chromosome count of 2n = 44; J. Clausen (1929) and A. Gershoy (1934) reported 2n = 48. V. B. Baird (1942) reported that V. blanda (and V. incognita) have fragrant flowers. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Varieties 3 (3 in the flora). Viola praemorsa is a complex group that appears to be evolving. Sympatric populations and the similarity of their flowers provide opportunities for hybridization and introgression (D. M. Fabijan et al. 1987). Some botanists have suggested that all taxa in the V. nuttallii complex, which includes V. bakeri, V. nuttallii, V. praemorsa, V. tomentosa, and V. vallicola, should be treated as varieties of V. nuttallii, as C. L. Hitchcock et al. (1955–1969, vol. 3) did, on the basis that these taxa are more or less sympatric in range, intergrade with one another, and possess no distinctive gross morphological features by which they can be consistently recognized. S. L. Welsh et al. (1987) treated V. praemorsa and V. linguaefolia Nuttall as synonymous with V. nuttallii, stating that V. nuttallii (and related taxa) are acaulescent to short-caulescent. Although some plants have short internodes, all plants in the V. nuttallii complex are caulescent. We acknowledge the complexity and taxonomic difficulties inherent in the V. nuttallii complex; patterns of morphology, cytology, and leaf flavonoid chemistry provide a basis for recognizing infrataxa. Fabijan et al. conducted the most extensive study of the complex to date; their treatment of V. praemorsa is followed here. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 6, p. 124. | FNA vol. 6, p. 145. | ||||||||
Parent taxa | Violaceae > Viola | Violaceae > Viola | ||||||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||||||
Synonyms | V. blanda var. palustriformis, V. incognita, V. incognita var. forbesii, V. leconteana | V. nuttallii subsp. praemorsa, V. nuttallii var. praemorsa | ||||||||
Name authority | Willdenow: Hort. Berol. 1(2): plate 24. (1804) | Douglas ex Lindley: Edwards’s Bot. Reg. 15: plate 1254. (1829) | ||||||||
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