Viola purpurea |
Viola brittoniana |
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goosefoot violet, mountain violet, pine violet, purple-mark yellow violet |
coast violet, coastal violet, northern coastal violet |
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Habit | Plants perennial, caulescent, not stoloniferous, 1.5–25 cm. | Plants perennial, acaulescent, not stoloniferous, 5–30 cm; rhizome thick, fleshy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stems | 1–5(–7), decumbent or spreading to erect, leafy proximally and distally, ± glabrous, puberulent, canescent, or tomentose, on caudex from subligneous rhizome. |
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Leaves | basal and cauline; basal: 1–6; stipules adnate to petiole, forming 2 linear, membranous wings, wing margins entire or laciniate, each wing with lanceolate to ± deltate projection, margins entire or laciniate, apex acute to long-acuminate; petiole 1.8–14.5 cm, puberulent to tomentose; blade purplish, purple-tinted, or gray-green abaxially, gray, green, or gray-green adaxially, sometimes shiny adaxially, ovate, orbiculate, oblong, deltate, or lanceolate, 0.8–5.3 × 0.4–4.1 cm, often fleshy, base cordate, subcordate, truncate, or attenuate, oblique or not, margins usually ± crenate, serrate, dentate, or coarsely or irregularly repand-dentate, sometimes entire, usually ciliate, apex acute to obtuse or rounded, surfaces glabrous, puberulent, or tomentose; cauline similar to basal except: stipules linear, lanceolate, oblanceolate, or ± oblong to ovate, margins entire, lacerate, or laciniate, usually ciliate, apex sometimes divided into 2–3 filiform processes or obtuse; petiole 0.3–19.7 cm, glabrous or puberulent; blade ovate, oblong, elliptic, deltate, or lanceolate, 0.9–5.2 × 0.2–2.9 cm, length 0.8–7.1 times width, margins crenate, serrate, dentate, repand-denticulate, undulate-denticulate, sinuate, undulate, or entire, abaxial surface puberulent, canescent, or tomentose, adaxial surface glabrous, sparsely pubescent, puberulent, canescent, or tomentose. |
basal, 5–9, ascending to erect, 5–9-lobed; stipules linear-lanceolate, margins entire, apex obtuse; petiole 3–16 cm, usually glabrous; mid-season blades incised or lobed throughout, earliest blades lobed (plants homophyllous), similar to mid-season blades, middle and lateral blade lobes differ in width and/or shape, middle lobes lanceolate or spatulate to narrowly obovate, lateral lobes lanceolate or spatulate to falcate (each sometimes with deltate to falcate appendages or teeth along margins), 1–7 × 2–8 cm, base truncate to cordate, margins entire, ciliate, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces usually glabrous, rarely with a few strigose, hairs concentrated on veins. |
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Peduncles | 5–18 cm, usually glabrous. |
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Flowers | sepals lanceolate to ovate, margins ciliate or eciliate, auricles 2–3 mm; petals light to soft reddish violet on both surfaces, lower 3 white basally, dark violet-veined, lateral 2 bearded, lowest 10–25 mm, sometimes bearded, spur same color as petals, gibbous, 2–3 mm; style head beardless; cleistogamous flowers on ascending to erect peduncles. |
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Capsules | ovoid to ± spherical, 4–7 mm, puberulent. |
ellipsoid, 10–15 mm, glabrous. |
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Seeds | light to dark brown or mottled gray and brown, 2–3.1 mm. |
beige, mottled to bronze, 1.5–2.5 mm. |
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2n | = 12. |
= 54. |
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Viola purpurea |
Viola brittoniana |
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Phenology | Flowering Apr–Jun. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Alluvial woods, mesic forests on slopes near streams, wet fields, salt meadows | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 0–100 m (0–300 ft) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; BC; nw Mexico
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CT; DE; MA; MD; ME; NC; NJ; NY; PA; SC; VA |
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Discussion | Varieties 7 (7 in the flora). Varieties of Viola purpurea are variable and intergrade. All are found in California; six occur in other western states, one in Mexico, and one in British Columbia. Mature plants are needed for determination. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Britton considered Viola brittoniana similar to V. pedatifida, apparently making him the first to recognize their affinity. Both are homophyllous and similar in other characters (L. E. McKinney 1992). McKinney recognized V. brittoniana as a variety of V. pedatifida. Additional evidence (N. L. Gil-Ad 1997; A. Haines 2011) suggests that these taxa are sufficiently distinct to continue recognition as separate species. Viola pectinata has sharply dentate leaves and is closely related to V. brittoniana, usually occurring with it. N. L. Gil-Ad (1997) made a convincing argument to recognize it as a form; A. Haines (2011) recognized it as a species. Others have considered it to be a sporadic form that may be of hybrid origin, or, as N. H. Russell (1965) suggested, is due to genetic dimorphism. We are reserving a decision on treating this taxon until additional studies are completed. A. Haines (2011) reported that the distribution of Viola brittoniana in Maine is actually based on the hybrid V. ×insolita House (V. brittoniana × V. sororia). Viola brittoniana reportedly hybridizes with V. cucullata (= V. ×notabilis E. P. Bicknell), V. sagittata var. sagittata (= V. ×mulfordiae Pollard), and V. sororia (= V. ×insolita). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 6, p. 150. | FNA vol. 6, p. 125. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Violaceae > Viola | Violaceae > Viola | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Synonyms | V. atlantica, V. baxteri, V. brittoniana var. pectinata, V. pectinata, V. pedatifida subsp. brittoniana, V. pedatifida var. brittoniana | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Kellogg: Pacific (San Francisco), 2 Feb. 1855: unnumb. (1855) | Pollard: Bot. Gaz. 26: 332. (1898) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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