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

California golden violet, johnny-jump-up, wild pansy, yellow pansy

evergreen violet, redwood violet, redwoods violet, trailing yellow violet, violette toujours verte

Habit Plants perennial, caulescent, not stoloniferous, 5–39 cm. Plants perennial, caulescent, stoloniferous, 10–30 cm; stolons green or reddish, leafy, sometimes rooting at nodes, becoming lignified in age.
Stems

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.

1–5, prostrate, spreading, glabrous or sparsely 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.

Leaves

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.

evergreen, basal and cauline;

basal: 1–6(–10);

stipules deltate to ovate or linear-lanceolate, margins entire or glandular-toothed, apex acute to long-acuminate;

petiole 2–16 cm, glabrous;

blade often purple-spotted abaxially and/or adaxially, orbiculate to ovate, 1–4.5 × 2–3.9 cm, base cordate to truncate, margins crenate, eciliate, apex blunt to obtuse, mucronulate, surfaces glabrous or with scattered bristles on one or both surfaces;

cauline similar to basal except: stipules deltate to lanceolate, margins entire or sparingly toothed;

petiole 0.3–3 cm;

blade 1.2–2.2 × 1.2–2 cm.

Peduncles

2.9–20 cm, sparsely to densely puberulent.

5–10 cm, glabrous.

Flowers

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.

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

petals lemon-yellow on both surfaces, lower 3 and sometimes upper 2 brownish purple-veined, lateral 2 bearded, lowest 8–17 mm, spur yellow or whitish, gibbous, 1–2.5 mm;

style head bearded; cleistogamous flowers axillary.

Capsules

ellipsoid, 5–11 mm, glabrous.

mottled with purple, spherical to ovoid, 5–8 mm, glabrous.

Seeds

dark brown or black, shiny, 2.7 mm.

brown, tinged purple, 2–2.5 mm.

2n

= 12.

= 24, 48.

Viola pedunculata

Viola sempervirens

Phenology Flowering Feb–Apr. Flowering Jan–Jul.
Habitat Open, grassy coastal and inland slopes and hillsides, usually in full sun, chaparral, foothill and oak woodland Redwood forests, other coastal forests, Douglas fir, other coniferous forests
Elevation 0–1000 m (0–3300 ft) 30–1400 m (100–4600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; CA; ID; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

In California, Viola sempervirens occurs in shaded redwood forests and other coastal forest habitats. In Oregon and Washington, it occurs in Douglas fir and other coniferous forests, where it can form mats (clones) one meter or more in diameter; its prostrate, spreading growth habit is similar to V. walteri. The leafy stems of V. sempervirens are similar to the leafy stolons of V. odorata.

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

Source FNA vol. 6, p. 144. FNA vol. 6, p. 157.
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. pedatifida, 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. 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
Synonyms V. pedunculata subsp. tenuifolia V. sarmentosa, V. sempervirens subsp. orbiculoides
Name authority Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 141. (1838) Greene: Pittonia 4: 8. (1899)
Web links