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

goosefoot yellow violet, mountain yellow violet, pine violet

Beckwith's or Great Basin violet, Beckwith's violet, Great Basin violet, sagebrush pansy, sagebrush violet

Habit Plants perennial, caulescent, not stoloniferous, 3–18 cm, cespitose or not. Plants perennial, caulescent, not stoloniferous, 2–22 cm.
Stems

1–3, prostrate or erect, leafy proximally and distally, puberulent or canescent to gray-tomentose, sometimes glabrous, on caudex from subligneous rhizome.

1–3, decumbent, ascending, or erect, ca. 1/2 subterranean, glabrous or usually puberulent, on single, short, vertical, deep-seated caudex.

Leaves

basal and cauline;

basal: 1–4;

stipules adnate to petiole forming 2 linear-lanceolate wings, margins entire or laciniate, apex of each wing free, tips usually filamentous;

petiole 2.3–9.5 cm, puberulent or canescent;

blade purple-tinted abaxially or not, usually linear to narrowly lanceolate, oblanceolate or obovate, or lanceolate-elliptic, rarely ovate, 1.3–5 × 0.3–2.5 cm, base attenuate, margins usually lacerate, dentate, or serrate, sometimes entire, usually undulate, ciliate, apex acute, mucronulate, surfaces puberulent to canescent or gray-tomentose;

cauline similar to basal except: stipules lanceolate, oblanceolate, or linear-oblong, margins entire or lacerate, apex acute to acuminate;

petiole 0.9–8.3 cm;

blade 2.8–9.6 × 0.3–1.4 cm, length 4–11 times width.

basal and cauline;

basal: 1–6 per caudex, palmately compound, ± 2-ternate or 3-ternate, leaflets 3;

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

petiole 2–10.5 cm, usually puberulent;

blade ovate to deltate, 2.4–5 × 3.5–4.5 cm, base tapered, ultimate leaflets dissected into oblong, elliptic, lanceolate, or oblanceolate lobes 1–7 mm wide, lobe margins entire, usually ciliate, apex acute to obtuse, mucronulate, surfaces usually puberulent, seldom glabrous, abaxial surface without prominent vein parallel to each margin;

cauline similar to basal except: stipules linear, apex acuminate;

petiole 2–5.7 cm, usually puberulent, rarely glabrous;

blade 1–2.7 × 1.5–3 cm.

Peduncles

2.9–11.5 cm, puberulent or canescent.

1.5–10.6(–15.7) cm, usually puberulent, seldom glabrous.

Flowers

sepals lanceolate, margins ciliate, auricles 0.5–1 mm;

petals deep lemon-yellow adaxially, upper 2 red- to purple-brown abaxially, lower 3 dark brown-veined, lateral 2 bearded, lowest 5–12 mm, spur color same as petals, gibbous, 1.5–3 mm;

style head bearded; cleistogamous flowers axillary.

sepals lanceolate, margins eciliate, auricles 0.1–1 mm;

petals dark reddish violet on both surfaces, lower 3 usually lilac, rarely white or whitish, lateral 2 bearded, with yellow patch basally, dark reddish violet-veined, lowest 10–22 mm, with yellow patch, dark reddish violet-veined, spur whitish or yellowish, tinged purple, gibbous, 0.5–2 mm;

style head bearded; cleistogamous flowers absent.

Capsules

ovoid, 3.5–7 mm, puberulent.

oblong-ovoid, 7–12 mm, glabrous.

Seeds

medium to dark brown, 2–3.5 mm.

brown, 3–4 mm.

2n

= 12.

= 24.

Viola pinetorum

Viola beckwithii

Phenology Flowering Mar–May.
Habitat Dry or moist places, among shrubs or beneath pines
Elevation 900–2700 m (3000–8900 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; ID; NV; OR; UT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Flowers of Viola pinetorum have been observed to close up in late afternoon then fully reopen the following morning.

Although E. O. Wooton and P. C. Standley (1915) reported Viola pinetorum from New Mexico, the plant was probably V. nuttallii. K. W. Allred (2008) noted that V. pinetorum occurs in California; he did not recognize it in New Mexico.

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

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

In some populations of Viola beckwithii, the three lower petals are white with a yellow area proximally (V. B. Baird 1942). Leaves have been described as palmately biternate or triternate (L. Abrams and R. S. Ferris 1923–1960, vol. 3), ternately decompound into linear segments (C. L. Hitchcock et al. 1955–1969, vol. 3), palmately three-parted then bipinnately parted into ultimate linear or spatulate segments (P. A. Munz 1959), and palmately about three times three-parted into linear or spatulate-linear segments (W. L. Jepson 1951). Some populations in northern California are nearly or completely glabrous, which M. S. Baker recognized as var. glabrata.

Viola beckwithii is reported to hybridize with V. utahensis (G. Davidse 1976). Observed pollinators of V. beckwithii in Utah include Apis mellifera Linnaeus and Anthophora ursina Cresson (Davidse).

When Cottam described Viola bonnevillensis, he suggested that it could be a hybrid between V. beckwithii and V. utahensis, and G. Davidse (1976) concurred. The type specimen of V. bonnevillensis (Cottam 7067, UT) was examined by R. J. Little. Because no similar forms are known to have been collected since 1939, it is presumed that this taxon is a hybrid.

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

Key
1. Plants 6.5–18 cm, not cespitose; basal leaf blades 0.7–2.5 cm wide, surfaces puberulent; peduncles 3.4–11.5 cm.
var. pinetorum
1. Plants 3–7(–9) cm, usually cespitose; basal leaf blades 0.3–1 cm wide, surfaces canescent, sometimes appearing gray-tomentose; peduncles 2.9–6(–7) cm.
var. grisea
Source FNA vol. 6, p. 144. FNA vol. 6, p. 122.
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. pedunculata, 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. 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. trinervata, V. tripartita, V. umbraticola, V. utahensis, V. vallicola, V. villosa, V. walteri
Subordinate taxa
V. pinetorum var. grisea, V. pinetorum var. pinetorum
Synonyms V. purpurea var. pinetorum V. beckwithii var. cachensis, V. beckwithii subsp. glabrata, V. bonnevillensis
Name authority Greene: Pittonia 2: 14. (1889) Torrey: in E. M. Durand, Pl. Pratten. Calif., 82. (1855)
Web links