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early yellow or roundleaf yellow violet, round-leaf violet, roundleaf yellow violet, violette à feuilles rondes

Japanese violet

Habit Plants perennial, acaulescent, not stoloniferous, 1–20 cm; rhizome thick, fleshy. Plants perennial, acaulescent, not stoloniferous, 3–20 cm; rhizome stout, fleshy.
Leaves

basal, 2–5, prostrate to ascending, often overlapping basally;

stipules linear-lanceolate, margins entire, apex acute;

petiole 2–8 cm, pubescent;

blade unlobed, orbiculate, reniform, or ovate, 2–12 × 1.5–9 cm, base cordate, margins crenate to serrate, sometimes glandular, ciliate or eciliate, apex rounded to acute, surfaces usually pubescent throughout or concentrated proximally on both surfaces.

basal, 6–22, ascending to erect;

stipules linear-lanceolate, margins remotely denticulate, apex acuminate;

petiole 1–13 cm, narrowly winged distally, glabrous or puberulent;

blade unlobed, oblong-ovate, ovate-lanceolate, or narrowly ovate, 1–4.5(–10) × 0.6–2(–4) cm, base usually truncate, sometimes ± cordate or broadly cuneate, margins crenulate, ciliate or eciliate, apex obtuse or ± acute, surfaces glabrous or puberulent.

Peduncles

1.5–7 cm, usually pubescent.

2.5–6 cm, glabrous, bracteoles near middle.

Flowers

sepals lanceolate to ovate, margins ciliate or eciliate, auricles 0.5–1 mm;

petals deep lemon-yellow on both surfaces, lower 3 brownish purple-veined, lateral 2 bearded, lowest 8–11 mm, spur yellow, gibbous, 1–2 mm;

style head beardless; cleistogamous flowers on prostrate or partially subterranean rhizomes or on racemelike, nonrooting, and usually leafless branches growing from rhizome apex.

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

petals light violet or purple on both surfaces, rarely all white, lower 3 dark violet-veined, lateral 2 beardless or sparsely bearded, lowest 14–25 mm, spur pale to dark violet, elongated, 6–9 mm, tip hooked up;

style head beardless; cleistogamous flowers present.

Capsules

ellipsoid, 5–10 mm, glabrous.

narrowly ellipsoid, 5–12 mm, glabrous.

Seeds

beige, 1–2 mm.

dark brown, ca. 2 mm.

2n

= 12.

= 48.

Viola rotundifolia

Viola prionantha

Phenology Flowering Mar–May. Flowering Apr–May.
Habitat Rich montane forests and other mesic woodlands Lawns, roads, roadsides
Elevation 200–2000 m (700–6600 ft) 200–900 m (700–3000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CT; DE; GA; KY; MA; MD; ME; NC; NH; NY; OH; PA; RI; SC; TN; VA; VT; WV; ON; QC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
KS; NE; Asia (China, Korea, Russia) [Introduced in North America]
Discussion

N. H. Russell (1955b) stated that Viola rotundifolia is a primitive member of Viola and probably one of the ancestral species of stemmed yellow violets of North America. Russell (1965) stated that morphologically, V. rotundifolia is one of the most invariable violets and suggested that its nearest relative is V. orbiculata.

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

In 1952, plants of Viola initially identified as V. patrinii were collected and reported by C. T. Rogerson to be established in lawns on the campus of Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, where they are still found. S. B. Rolfsmeier recently determined that these plants are V. prionantha. R. B. Kaul reported that V. prionantha occurs along roadsides in Kansas and is also established in the floodplain of the North Platte River in Nebraska, where it was first collected by him in 1992.

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

Source FNA vol. 6, p. 155. FNA vol. 6, p. 149.
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. pinetorum, V. praemorsa, V. primulifolia, V. prionantha, V. pubescens, V. purpurea, V. quercetorum, V. renifolia, V. riviniana, V. rostrata, 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. 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
Name authority Michaux: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 150. (1803) Bunge: Enum. Pl. China Bor., 8. (1833)
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