Viola pedunculata
Viola sororia
California golden violet, johnny-jump-up, wild pansy, yellow pansy
common blue violet, common or downy or woolly blue violet, northern blue violet, northern violet, northern woodland violet, violette parente, woolly blue violet
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.
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.
basal, 1–8, ascending to erect;
stipules linear-lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, margins entire, sometimes glandular distally, apex acute;
petiole 2–25 cm, pubescent or glabrous;
blade green abaxially, unlobed, ovate or broadly ovate to reniform, 2–5 × 2–10 cm, not fleshy, base cordate, margins crenate to serrate, ciliate or eciliate, apex acute to obtuse or rounded, surfaces usually pubescent, rarely glabrous.
2.9–20 cm, sparsely to densely puberulent.
3–25 cm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent.
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, margins ciliate or eciliate, auricles 1–2 mm;
petals light to dark blue- or dark purple-violet, reddish purple, or rarely white on both surfaces, usually white basally, lowest and sometimes lateral 2 purple-veined, lateral 2 bearded, lowest bearded or beardless, 15–25 mm, spur same color as petals, gibbous, 2–3 mm;
style head beardless; cleistogamous flowers on prostrate to ascending peduncles.
ellipsoid, 5–11 mm, glabrous.
ellipsoid, 5–12 mm, glabrous.
dark brown or black, shiny, 2.7 mm.
beige, mottled to bronze, 1.5–2.5 mm.
= 12.
= 54.
Viola pedunculata
Viola sororia
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.)
Viola sororia is similar to V. palmata in the high degree of phenotypic plasticity. The petal color is usually light to dark blue-violet. In V. sororia forma priceana (the Confederate violet) petals are grayish white with violet veins. Viola septentrionalis was recognized by N. L. Gil-Ad (1997) based on what he considered distinct capsule and seed morphology. His assumptions were based on one to four specimens. A. Haines (2011) alluded to the variability of V. sororia and indicated that a more northern form has often been called V. septentrionalis. He suggested that range-wide patterns of variation make it difficult or impractical to separate. We currently see no valid reason to recognize V. septentrionalis.
Viola floridana was recognized by D. B. Ward (2006) as distinct from V. sororia based on being glabrous except for scattered hairs on petioles.
Viola sororia reportedly hybridizes with V. cucullata (= V. ×bissellii House), V. hirsutula [= V. ×cordifolia (Nuttall) Schweinitz], V. pedatifida var. brittoniana (= V. ×insolita House), V. pedatifida var. pedatifida (= V. ×bernardii Greene), and V. sagittata var. sagittata (= V. ×conjugens Greene).
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
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