Viola walteri |
Viola hirsutula |
|||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
prostrate blue violet |
southern woodland 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, 2–15 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, 2–4, prostrate or nearly so; stipules linear-lanceolate, margins entire, apex acute; petiole 1–10 cm, usually glabrous; blade unlobed, reniform to ovate, 1–6 × 1–5 cm, base cordate, margins serrate, ciliate or eciliate, apex rounded, adaxial leaf surface with silvery strigose patches. |
||||
Peduncles | 5–9.6 cm, glabrous or pubescent. |
2–12 cm, 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 1–2 mm; petals light to deep reddish violet to blue-violet on both surfaces, 3 lower whitish basally, dark violet-veined, lateral 2 densely bearded, lowest 11–17 mm, spur violet, gibbous, 2–3 mm; style head beardless; cleistogamous flowers on prostrate to ascending peduncles. |
||||
Capsules | ovoid to ellipsoid, 5–7 mm, glabrous. |
ellipsoid, 8–12 mm, glabrous. |
||||
Seeds | brown, 1–1.5 mm. |
beige, mottled to bronze, 1–1.5 mm. |
||||
2n | = 20. |
= 54. |
||||
Viola walteri |
Viola hirsutula |
|||||
Phenology | Flowering Mar–Jun. | |||||
Habitat | Dry to mesic deciduous woodlands | |||||
Elevation | 100–1000 m (300–3300 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
AL; AR; FL; GA; KY; LA; MD; MS; NC; OH; PA; SC; TN; TX; VA; WV
|
AL; CT; DC; DE; FL; GA; IN; KY; MD; MS; NC; NJ; NY; OH; PA; SC; TN; VA; WV
|
||||
Discussion | Varieties 2 (2 in the flora). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Viola hirsutula exhibits little phenotypic plasticity. Although considered by N. L. Gil-Ad (1997) to be a putative hybrid, he did not identify the potential parents and chose not to recognize it. A. Cronquist in H. A. Gleason and Cronquist (1991) considered V. hirsutula a form of V. villosa. Viola hirsutula is considered one of the more distinct species throughout its range by McKinney because of the pattern of silvery strigose patches on adaxial leaf surfaces and a more prostrate growth habit than similar species. He believes V. hirsutula is one of the least variable species in the flora. Viola hirsutula appears to occur much less frequently than herbarium collections suggest. Some herbarium specimens are misidentified and represent depauperate plants, usually of V. sororia. These specimens are often hairy on the adaxial leaf surfaces but lack the silvery patches. Viola hirsutula reportedly hybridizes with V. sororia var. sororia (= V. ×cordifolia [Nuttall] Schweinitz) and V. sagittata var. sagittata (= V. ×redacta House). (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
||||
Key |
|
|||||
Source | FNA vol. 6, p. 163. | FNA vol. 6, p. 133. | ||||
Parent taxa | Violaceae > Viola | Violaceae > Viola | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Name authority | House: Torreya 6: 172. (1906) | Brainerd: Rhodora 9: 98. (1907) | ||||
Web links |