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crow-foot violet, prairie or crowfoot or larkspur violet, prairie violet, violette pédatifide

3-nerve violet, desert pansy, Rainier or sagebrush or three-nerve violet, Rainier violet, sagebrush violet, three-nerve violet

Habit Plants perennial, acaulescent, not stoloniferous, 5–30 cm; rhizome thick, fleshy. Plants perennial, caulescent, not stoloniferous, 5–15 cm.
Stems

1–4, decumbent, ascending, or erect, ca. 1/2 subterranean, glabrous, from single, vertical, deep-seated caudex.

Leaves

basal, 2–11, ascending to erect, 5–9-lobed;

stipules linear-lanceolate, margins entire, apex acute;

petiole 3–16 cm, pubescent;

blade similar in width and shape, lobes lanceolate, spatulate, falcate, or linear, 1–7 × 2–8 cm, base truncate to reniform, margins entire, ciliate, apex acute to obtuse, mucronulate, surfaces pubescent, hairs sometimes concentrated on veins.

basal and cauline;

basal: 1–7, palmately compound, leaflets 3–5;

stipules adnate to petiole, forming 2 linear-lanceolate wings, unlobed, margins entire, apex of each wing free, acute;

petiole 4.5–15 cm, glabrous;

blade reniform or ovate to ± orbiculate, 2–5 × 2.5–5 cm, coriaceous, base tapered, leaflets cleft or dissected into 2–3 elliptic, lanceolate, or oblanceolate lobes 2–7 mm wide, margins usually entire, eciliate, apex acute, mucronulate, surfaces glabrous (± glaucous), abaxial surface usually with prominent vein parallel to each margin;

cauline similar to basal except: stipules lanceolate;

petiole 1–5.5 cm;

blade 1–3 × 2–4.5 cm.

Peduncles

5–18 cm, glabrous or pubescent.

1.1–7 cm, glabrous.

Flowers

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

petals light to soft reddish violet on both surfaces, lower 3 white basally, dark violet-veined, lateral 2 and lowest usually bearded, lowest 10–25 mm, spur same color as petals, gibbous, 2–3 mm;

style head beardless; cleistogamous flowers on ascending to erect peduncles.

sepals lanceolate, margins eciliate, auricles 0–1 mm;

petals: upper 2 often overlapping, dark reddish violet on both surfaces, lower 3 lilac, rarely white, lateral 2 bearded, with yellow patch basally and reddish violet patch distal to yellow patch, lowest 9–15 mm with yellow patch, dark reddish violet-veined, spur yellow, gibbous, 0.6–1.5 mm;

style head bearded; cleistogamous flowers absent.

Capsules

ellipsoid, 10–15 mm, glabrous.

ovoid, 7–12 mm, glabrous.

Seeds

beige, mottled to bronze, 1.5–2.5 mm.

tan, 3.2–4.5 mm.

2n

= 54.

Viola pedatifida

Viola trinervata

Phenology Flowering Mar–Jun. Flowering Mar–May.
Habitat Prairies, grasslands, disturbed ground, dry gravelly hills Sagebrush flats, dry, rocky hillsides, usually in gravelly soil
Elevation 500–1000 m (1600–3300 ft) 400–1200 m (1300–3900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AR; AZ; CO; IA; IL; IN; KS; MI; MN; MO; MT; ND; NE; NM; OH; OK; SD; VA; WI; WY; AB; MB; ON; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Viola pedatifida was reported historically from, and recently rediscovered in, the Appalachian shale barrens of Virginia (T. Wieboldt, pers. comm.).

Viola pedatifida reportedly hybridizes with V. sororia (= V. ×bernardii Greene).

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

In some populations of Viola trinervata the lower three petals are white with a yellow area proximally (V. B. Baird 1942).

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

Source FNA vol. 6, p. 144. FNA vol. 6, p. 161.
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. 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. 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. 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. tripartita, V. umbraticola, V. utahensis, V. vallicola, V. villosa, V. walteri
Synonyms V. delphiniifolia, V. palmata var. pedatifida V. beckwithii var. trinervata
Name authority G. Don: Gen. Hist. 1: 320. (1831) (Howell) Howell ex A. Gray: Bot. Gaz. 11: 290. (1886)
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