Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Viola epipsila

Viola prionantha

Canada violet, dwarf marsh violet, northern marsh violet

Japanese violet
Habit Plants perennial, acaulescent, not stoloniferous, 3–20 cm; rhizome stout, fleshy.
Leaves

basal, 6–22, ascending to erect;

stipules linear-lanceolate, margins remotely denticulate, apex acuminate;

petiole 1–13 cm, narrowly winged distally, glabrous or puberulent;

blade unlobed, oblong-ovate, ovate-lanceolate, or narrowly ovate, 1–4.5(–10) × 0.6–2(–4) cm, base usually truncate, sometimes ± cordate or broadly cuneate, margins crenulate, ciliate or eciliate, apex obtuse or ± acute, surfaces glabrous or puberulent.
Peduncles

2.5–6 cm, glabrous, bracteoles near middle.
Flowers

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

petals light violet or purple on both surfaces, rarely all white, lower 3 dark violet-veined, lateral 2 beardless or sparsely bearded, lowest 14–25 mm, spur pale to dark violet, elongated, 6–9 mm, tip hooked up;

style head beardless; cleistogamous flowers present.
Capsules

narrowly ellipsoid, 5–12 mm, glabrous.
Seeds

dark brown, ca. 2 mm.
2n

= 48.

Viola epipsila

Viola prionantha
Phenology Flowering Apr–May.
Habitat Lawns, roads, roadsides
Elevation 200–900 m (700–3000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CO; MI; AB; BC; MB; NT; NU; ON; YT; Europe; Asia
from FNA
KS; NE; Asia (China, Korea, Russia) [Introduced in North America]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (1 in the flora).

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

In 1952, plants of Viola initially identified as V. patrinii were collected and reported by C. T. Rogerson to be established in lawns on the campus of Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, where they are still found. S. B. Rolfsmeier recently determined that these plants are V. prionantha. R. B. Kaul reported that V. prionantha occurs along roadsides in Kansas and is also established in the floodplain of the North Platte River in Nebraska, where it was first collected by him in 1992.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 6, p. 130. FNA vol. 6, p. 149.
Parent taxa Violaceae > Viola Violaceae > Viola
Sibling taxa
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. 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. 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. 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
Subordinate taxa
V. epipsila var. repens
Name authority Ledebour: Index Seminum (Dorpat) 1820: 5. (1820) Bunge: Enum. Pl. China Bor., 8. (1833)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Fabaceae, Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers