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

common dog-violet, dog violet, wood violet

Habit Plants perennial, acaulescent, not stoloniferous, 1–20 cm; rhizome thick, fleshy. Plants perennial, caulescent, not stoloniferous, 1.8–30 cm.
Stems

1–5, erect, ascending, or decumbent, glabrous or puberulent, on caudex from subligneous rhizome.

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 and cauline;

basal: 3–5;

stipules subulate or lanceolate, margins fimbriate, apex acute to acuminate;

petiole 2.5–12 cm, usually glabrous, rarely puberulent;

blade ovate to reniform, 2.3–5.5 × 2.6–5.3 cm, base cordate to deeply cordate, margins crenate, eciliate, apex acute or obtuse, abaxial surface glabrous or sparsely puberulent, adaxial surface usually sparsely puberulent, sometimes glabrous;

cauline similar to basal except: stipules ovate or lanceolate, margins fimbriate, apex long-acuminate;

petiole 1.3–6 cm;

blade ovate or broadly ovate, 1.8–5 × 1.5–4.2 cm, apex acute.

Peduncles

1.5–7 cm, usually pubescent.

2.8–10 cm, glabrous, sometimes puberulent.

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, margins eciliate;

auricles 1.8–2.5 mm (enlarged in fruit);

petals violet on both surfaces, lower 3 usually white basally, rarely violet, dark violet-veined, lateral 2 bearded, lowest 13–17 mm, spur white, rarely violet, elongated, 5–7 mm, tip straight or hooked, blunt;

style head beardless (surface papillose); cleistogamous flowers axillary.

Capsules

ellipsoid, 5–10 mm, glabrous.

ovoid or oblong, 8–12 mm, glabrous.

Seeds

beige, 1–2 mm.

pale to light brown, 1.8–2.1 mm.

2n

= 12.

= 40.

Viola rotundifolia

Viola riviniana

Phenology Flowering Mar–May. Flowering Mar–Sep.
Habitat Rich montane forests and other mesic woodlands Roadsides and trails, sidewalk cracks, parks
Elevation 200–2000 m (700–6600 ft) 0–200 m (0–700 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
CA; OR; WA; BC; Eurasia; nw Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced in Australia]
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.)

Viola riviniana has become established in several states on the Pacific Coast. It is cultivated and sold through nurseries in the United States. In the nursery trade in California and elsewhere, it is incorrectly referred to incorrectly as V. labradorica ‘Purpurea.’ In some plants shoots arise from adventitious buds on the roots (A. R. Clapham et al. 1987; T. Marcussen and T. Karlsson 2010).

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

Source FNA vol. 6, p. 155. FNA vol. 6, p. 154.
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. prionantha, V. pubescens, V. purpurea, V. quercetorum, V. renifolia, 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) Reichenbach: Iconogr. Bot. Pl. Crit. 1: 81, plate 95. (1823)
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