Viola odorata |
Viola lobata |
|||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
English violet, garden violet, sweet blue violet, sweet violet, violette odorante |
moose horn violet, pine violet, yellow wood violet |
|||||
Habit | Plants perennial, acaulescent, stoloniferous, 4–12 cm; stolons green, often rooting at nodes and forming leafy rosettes; rooted rosettes often develop into erect, rhizomatous caudex from which new stolons are produced; rhizome thick, fleshy. | Plants perennial, caulescent, not stoloniferous, 5–46 cm. | ||||
Stems | 1–3, erect, leafless proximally, leafy distally, glabrous or puberulent, from subligneous rhizome. |
|||||
Leaves | basal (and from stolons), 5–10, ascending to erect; stipules lanceolate to linear-lanceolate, margins fimbriate, projections gland-tipped, apex acute; petiole 2–17 cm, puberulent; blade unlobed, ovate to orbiculate, 1.5–7 × 1.5–5 cm, base cordate, margins crenate, ciliate, apex obtuse to rounded, surfaces puberulent. |
basal and cauline; basal: 0–2, unlobed or palmately 3–11-lobed; stipules ovate to lanceolate, margins ± entire or serrate, apex acute; petiole 5–27 cm, glabrous or puberulent; blade sometimes glaucous, deltate to reniform, 3.5–8.5 × 4.5–13.5 cm, base cordate, truncate, or attenuate, margins on unlobed leaves coarsely dentate-serrate, margins on lobed leaves usually entire, sometimes few-toothed, ciliate (sometimes only proximal 1/2) or eciliate, apex acute to obtuse, mucronulate, surfaces glabrous or puberulent; cauline similar to basal except: distal on naked stems, unlobed and divided leaves can occur on same plant, if divided, palmately 3–12-lobed; stipules sometimes large and ± leaflike, margins entire, lacerate, or laciniate, sometimes with gland-tipped projections, apex acute to acuminate; petiole 0.2–8.8 cm; blade reniform to reniform-cordate, ± ovate, deltate, or rhombic, 1.5–5.5 × 1.4–10 cm, base cordate, subcordate, truncate, or attenuate, margins entire, crenate-serrate, or dentate, or coarsely lacerate to deeply serrate, often entire distally, ciliate or rarely eciliate, apex acute to obtuse, often long-tapered, mucronulate. |
||||
Peduncles | 4–15 cm, puberulent. |
2–13 cm, glabrous or pubescent. |
||||
Flowers | sepals narrow to broadly lanceolate, margins ciliate, auricles 3–4 mm; petals deep to pale blue-violet, pale blue, or white on both surfaces, usually white basally, lateral 2 sparsely to densely bearded, lowest usually purple-veined, 12–22 mm, spur usually same color as petals, elongated, 5–7 mm; style head beardless; cleistogamous flowers on prostrate or ascending peduncles. |
sepals lanceolate, margins ciliate or eciliate, auricles 0.1–1 mm; petals deep lemon-yellow adaxially, usually upper 2 and sometimes lateral 2 brownish purple abaxially, lower 3 and sometimes upper 2 brownish purple-veined basally, lateral 2 bearded, lowest 8–19 mm, spur yellow to greenish, gibbous, 0.5–2 mm; style head bearded; cleistogamous flowers axillary. |
||||
Capsules | sometimes purple-flecked, ovoid, 5–8 mm, puberulent. |
ellipsoid-ovoid, 6–16 mm, glabrous. |
||||
Seeds | brown, 3–4 mm. |
light brown, blotched or streaked with brown, shiny, 2.1–2.7 mm. |
||||
2n | = 20. |
= 12. |
||||
Viola odorata |
Viola lobata |
|||||
Phenology | Flowering Jan–May. | |||||
Habitat | Lawns, roadsides, clearings, riparian habitats, parks, urban areas | |||||
Elevation | 0–1700 m (0–5600 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
CA; CT; ID; IL; MA; ME; MI; NC; NY; OH; OR; PA; RI; UT; WA; WI; BC; NS; ON; QC; Eurasia [Introduced in North America; introduced also in Australia]
|
CA; OR; nw Mexico
|
||||
Discussion | Viola odorata occurs in small colonies; individual plants are interconnected by stolons. The flowers of Viola odorata are noted for their fragrance; some plants are more fragrant than others. It is native to Eurasia and assumed to be introduced in North America where it is usually found in areas associated with human habitation, including parks, lawns, and roadsides. A substantial industry revolved around the commercial production of violets in England, France, and the United States from prior to 1895 and into the 1900s (R. E. Coombs 2003). Viola odorata is sometimes found in remote locations not easily explained by anthropogenic influence, for example, Clearwater Mountains, Idaho. It is available through the nursery trade and is cultivated as a garden plant and occasionally reported as an escape. Viola odorata is grown in southern France for essential oils used in perfumes, flavorings, and toiletries, and also for the production of the sweet, violet-colored liqueur called parfait amour (V. H. Heywood 1978). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). V. B. Baird (1942) noted that Viola lobata was more closely related to V. tripartita than to any western Viola. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
||||
Key |
|
|||||
Source | FNA vol. 6, p. 140. | FNA vol. 6, p. 137. | ||||
Parent taxa | Violaceae > Viola | Violaceae > Viola | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 934. (1753) | Bentham: Pl. Hartw., 298. (1849) | ||||
Web links |
|