Viola blanda |
Viola walteri |
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sweet white violet, violette agréable |
prostrate blue 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, stoloniferous, 5–19 cm; stolons green or reddish, leafy, sometimes rooting at nodes, becoming lignified in age. | ||||
Stems | 1–5, prostrate, spreading, finely puberulent, from current and/or previous year’s growth, on usually vertical, fleshy rhizome, rooting and forming rosettes at or near tip; rooted rosettes often develop into an erect, fleshy caudex from which new stems are produced. |
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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: 3–6; stipules lanceolate, margins laciniate, projections often long-filamentous, apex long-acuminate; petiole 2.3–7.3 cm, glabrous or pubescent; blade often purple-spotted abaxially and/or adaxially, ovate to reniform, 1.2–5 × 1.6–3.6 cm, base deeply to broadly cordate, margins crenulate to serrate, ciliate or eciliate, apex rounded to obtuse, surfaces glabrous or pubescent; cauline similar to basal except: stipules ovate to lanceolate, margins laciniate; petiole 1–3.5 cm; blade 1.3–2.9 × 1.4–3.2 cm. |
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Peduncles | 3–11 cm, glabrous or pubescent. |
5–9.6 cm, glabrous or pubescent. |
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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 to ovate, margins mostly eciliate, auricles 0.5–1 mm; petals pale to bluish violet on both surfaces, lower 3 white basally and darker violet-veined, lateral 2 and often upper 2 and lowest bearded, lowest 15–18 mm, spur white, gibbous to usually elongated, 3–5 mm; style head bearded; cleistogamous flowers axillary. |
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Capsules | ovoid to ellipsoid, 4–6 mm, glabrous. |
ovoid to ellipsoid, 5–7 mm, glabrous. |
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Seeds | beige to bronze, 1.5–2 mm. |
brown, 1–1.5 mm. |
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2n | = 44, 48. |
= 20. |
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Viola blanda |
Viola walteri |
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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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AL; AR; FL; GA; KY; LA; MD; MS; NC; OH; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV
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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 2 (2 in the flora). (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. 163. | ||||
Parent taxa | Violaceae > Viola | Violaceae > Viola | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | V. blanda var. palustriformis, V. incognita, V. incognita var. forbesii, V. leconteana | |||||
Name authority | Willdenow: Hort. Berol. 1(2): plate 24. (1804) | House: Torreya 6: 172. (1906) | ||||
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