Viola douglasii
Viola pedunculata
Douglas' golden violet, Douglas' or Douglas' golden violet, Douglas' violet, Douglas' yellow violet, golden violet
California golden violet, johnny-jump-up, wild pansy, yellow pansy
1–3, decumbent or ascending to erect, ca. 1/2 subterranean, glabrous or puberulent, from single, short, vertical, deep-seated caudex.
1–10+, decumbent, ascending, or erect, leafy proximally and distally, glabrous or puberulent, from shallow to deep-seated, enlarged rhizome with fleshy to subligneous roots.
basal and cauline;
basal: 1–6, bipinnately compound, leaflets 3–5;
stipules adnate to petiole forming 2 linear-lanceolate wings, unlobed, margins entire, apex of each wing free, acute to acuminate;
petiole 5–6.8 cm, glabrous or puberulent;
blade ovate, 3.5–5 × 2.4–3.5 cm, base tapered, leaflets 3–5-lobed, lobes linear, narrowly elliptic, or oblong, 1–2.5(–5) mm wide, margins entire, usually densely ciliate, apex acute to obtuse, mucronulate, surfaces glabrous or puberulent;
cauline similar to basal except: stipules ovate to linear-lanceolate, margins entire or toothed, apex acute;
petiole 0.9–4 cm;
blade 1.1–4.1 × 1–3.6 cm.
cauline;
stipules ovate, linear-lanceolate, or oblanceolate, sometimes leaflike, margins entire or glandular-toothed, apex acute to acuminate;
petiole 2.7–7.2 cm, usually finely puberulent, sometimes glabrate;
blade deltate to ovate, 1–5.5 × 1–5.5 cm, base truncate, subcordate, or attenuate, margins crenate to serrate, ciliate, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces subglabrous or sparsely puberulent.
2–12.5 cm, glabrous or puberulent.
2.9–20 cm, sparsely to densely puberulent.
sepals lanceolate, margins ciliate, auricles 0.5–1.5 mm;
petals light golden yellow adaxially, upper 2 dark brown to ± black abaxially, lower 3 dark brown-veined, lateral 2 bearded, lowest 8–21 mm, spur dark greenish to dark brown, gibbous, 1.5–2 mm;
style head bearded; cleistogamous flowers absent.
sepals lanceolate to ovate, margins ciliate or eciliate, auricles 1–3 mm;
petals golden yellow adaxially, upper 2 reddish brown abaxially, lower 3 dark brown-veined, lateral 2 bearded, lowest 10–20 mm, spur dark reddish brown, gibbous, 2–4 mm;
style head bearded; cleistogamous flowers absent.
spherical to oblong, 5–12 mm, glabrous.
ellipsoid, 5–11 mm, glabrous.
light brown, 2.8–3.3 mm.
dark brown or black, shiny, 2.7 mm.
= 24, 48.
= 12.
Viola douglasii
Viola pedunculata
Viola douglasii is tetraploid (n = 12) south of, and octoploid (n = 24) north of, San Francisco Bay, California. It forms sterile hybrids with V. quercetorum (J. Clausen 1964). V. B. Baird (1936) described V. douglasii × purpurea, which Clausen later said was actually V. quercetorum, not described at the time of Baird’s publication.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
The stems of Viola pedunculata arise from an enlarged, subterranean, spongy or fibrous rhizome. Often, these rhizome structures are deep seated; it is unknown how they get so deeply buried. The anther appendages of V. pedunculata are hairy distally, a characteristic not known to occur in other members of the V. purpurea complex.
Larvae of the federally listed Callippe silverspot butterfly [Speyeria callippe (Boisduval) callippe] feed only on Viola pedunculata.
Plants with leaves reported to be smaller, thinner, deltate, mostly longer than wide, with yellow petals (versus orange for Viola pedunculata var. pedunculata), style 2.1 mm (versus 2.9 mm for var. pedunculata), from the Pinnacles region in San Benito County, California, have been called subsp. tenuifolia.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
