Viola walteri |
Viola brittoniana |
|||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
prostrate blue violet |
coast violet, coastal violet, northern coastal violet |
|||||
Habit | Plants perennial, caulescent, stoloniferous, 5–19 cm; stolons green or reddish, leafy, sometimes rooting at nodes, becoming lignified in age. | Plants perennial, acaulescent, not stoloniferous, 5–30 cm; rhizome thick, fleshy. | ||||
Stems | 1–5, prostrate, spreading, finely puberulent, from current and/or previous year’s growth, on usually vertical, fleshy rhizome, rooting and forming rosettes at or near tip; rooted rosettes often develop into an erect, fleshy caudex from which new stems are produced. |
|||||
Leaves | basal and cauline; basal: 3–6; stipules lanceolate, margins laciniate, projections often long-filamentous, apex long-acuminate; petiole 2.3–7.3 cm, glabrous or pubescent; blade often purple-spotted abaxially and/or adaxially, ovate to reniform, 1.2–5 × 1.6–3.6 cm, base deeply to broadly cordate, margins crenulate to serrate, ciliate or eciliate, apex rounded to obtuse, surfaces glabrous or pubescent; cauline similar to basal except: stipules ovate to lanceolate, margins laciniate; petiole 1–3.5 cm; blade 1.3–2.9 × 1.4–3.2 cm. |
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. |
||||
Peduncles | 5–9.6 cm, glabrous or pubescent. |
5–18 cm, usually glabrous. |
||||
Flowers | sepals lanceolate to ovate, margins mostly eciliate, auricles 0.5–1 mm; petals pale to bluish violet on both surfaces, lower 3 white basally and darker violet-veined, lateral 2 and often upper 2 and lowest bearded, lowest 15–18 mm, spur white, gibbous to usually elongated, 3–5 mm; style head bearded; cleistogamous flowers axillary. |
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. |
||||
Capsules | ovoid to ellipsoid, 5–7 mm, glabrous. |
ellipsoid, 10–15 mm, glabrous. |
||||
Seeds | brown, 1–1.5 mm. |
beige, mottled to bronze, 1.5–2.5 mm. |
||||
2n | = 20. |
= 54. |
||||
Viola walteri |
Viola brittoniana |
|||||
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 |
AL; AR; FL; GA; KY; LA; MD; MS; NC; OH; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV
|
CT; DE; MA; MD; ME; NC; NJ; NY; PA; SC; VA |
||||
Discussion | Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). (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.) |
||||
Key |
|
|||||
Source | FNA vol. 6, p. 163. | FNA vol. 6, p. 125. | ||||
Parent taxa | Violaceae > Viola | Violaceae > Viola | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | V. atlantica, V. baxteri, V. brittoniana var. pectinata, V. pectinata, V. pedatifida subsp. brittoniana, V. pedatifida var. brittoniana | |||||
Name authority | House: Torreya 6: 172. (1906) | Pollard: Bot. Gaz. 26: 332. (1898) | ||||
Web links |