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

great-spur or long-spur or Selkirk's violet, great-spur violet, Selkirk's violet, violette de Selkirk

Guadalupe Mountains violet, Guadalupe violet

Habit Plants perennial, acaulescent, not stoloniferous, 4–15 cm; rhizome slender, not fleshy. Plants perennial, caulescent, not stoloniferous, 1–10 cm.
Stems

1–5, decumbent to erect, leafy proximally and distally, glabrous, on caudex from fleshy rhizome.

Leaves

basal, 2–12, prostrate to ascending;

stipules linear-lanceolate, margins entire, apex acute;

petiole 1.5–7 cm, not winged, glabrous or pubescent;

blade unlobed, usually ovate, rarely orbiculate, 1–5 × 1–5 cm, base cordate, margins crenate to crenulate or serrate, eciliate, apex rounded to acute, surfaces glabrous or sometimes pubescent abaxially, strigose adaxially.

cauline;

stipules lanceolate to ovate- or oblong-lanceolate or linear, margins sparingly glandular-fimbriate, apex acute;

petiole 2–6 cm, glabrous;

blade ovate to ovate-deltate or ovate-lanceolate, 1.2–2.4 × 0.7–1.3 cm, base broadly cuneate to rounded or truncate, margins entire or with 1–3 crenations on proximal 1/2, eciliate, apex acute to rounded, surfaces glabrous, sometimes with a few short hairs on veins abaxially.

Peduncles

3–6 cm, glabrous or pubescent.

3.5–6 cm, glabrous.

Flowers

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

petals light violet on both surfaces, lower 3 white basally and dark violet-veined, lateral 2 beardless, lowest 8–13 mm, spur pale to dark violet, elongated, 4–7 mm;

style head beardless; cleistogamous flowers on prostrate to ascending peduncles.

sepals linear to linear-lanceolate, margins eciliate, auricles 0.5–1.5 mm;

petals deep lemon-yellow adaxially, upper 2 reddish brown abaxially, lateral 2 and lowest dark brown-veined basally, lateral 2 bearded, lowest 7–11 mm, spur yellow, gibbous, 1–1.4 mm;

style head bearded; cleistogamous flowers absent.

Capsules

ovoid to ellipsoid, 4–8 mm, glabrous.

ovoid, 3–4.5 mm, glabrous.

Seeds

brown, 1–2 mm.

light brown, ± 2 mm.

2n

= 24.

= 24.

Viola selkirkii

Viola guadalupensis

Phenology Flowering May–Jun. Flowering May.
Habitat Wet to moist places, thickets, mixed or coniferous woods Openings and narrow ledges on limestone rock faces
Elevation 200–3000 m (700–9800 ft) 2600 m (8500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CO; MA; ME; MI; MN; NH; NY; PA; SD; VT; WA; WI; AB; BC; MB; NB; NL; NS; ON; QC; SK; YT; Greenland; Eurasia
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
TX
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Viola selkirkii occurs on the southwestern coast of Greenland, north to 63ºN (L. Brouillet, pers. comm.). Presence of V. selkirkii in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut is considered doubtful (L. Brouillet et al., http://canadensys.net/vascan). K. W. Allred (2008) said that V. selkirkii was considered by W. C. Martin and C. R. Hutchins (1980) to be expected in New Mexico.

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

Of conservation concern.

Viola guadalupensis is known only from the eastern rim of the Guadalupe Mountains in Culberson County. Powell and Wauer noted that it is the only yellow-flowered violet known in the Guadalupe Mountains and appears to be related to V. nuttallii and V. vallicola. K. W. Allred (2008) stated that a report of this species in New Mexico by J. T. Kartesz and C. A. Meacham (1999) requires verification. K. Haskins (pers. comm.) reported that experiments are currently being conducted to propagate plants of V. guadalupensis via cell tissue culture.

Chloroplast (trnL-F spacer) and low-copy nuclear gene (GPI) phylogenies indicate that Viola guadalupensis is an alloploid that originated through hybridization between an unidentified member of subsect. Canadenses (the paternal parent) and a member of the V. nuttallii complex

(the maternal parent), of sect. Chamaemelanium (T. Marcussen et al. 2011). Evidence reported by these authors from a fossil-calibrated relaxed clock dating analysis showed the estimated maximum age of V. guadalupensis to be (5.7–)8.6(–11.6) million years.

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

Source FNA vol. 6, p. 157. FNA vol. 6, p. 132.
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. rotundifolia, V. sagittata, 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. 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
Name authority Pursh ex Goldie: Edinburgh Philos. J. 6: 324. (1822) A. M. Powell & Wauer: Sida 14: 1, fig. 1. (1990)
Web links