Viola adunca

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Revision as of 00:17, 21 March 2021 by Jjjj0917 (Talk | contribs) (Propagation)

  • Scientific Name: Viola adunca
  • Family: Violaceae
  • Common Names: early blue violet, blue violet, western dog violet
  • Codon:VIOADU

Photo by Ben Legler, also featured on Main Page

Taxonomy

Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Subkingdom: Viridiplantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Spermatophytina
Class: Magnoliopsida
Subclass: Rosanae
Order: Malpighiales
Family: Violaceae
Genus: Viola L.
Species: Viola adunca Sm.

[1]

Description

Perennial from short to long, slender rhizomes. Usually stemless in the early part of the season, later developing aerial stems up to 10 cm tall. Starts to flower early in the growing season. Leaves generally oval to heart-shaped, hairy to hairless, blades to 3 cm long with fine round-toothed margins. Stipules reddish-brown or with reddish-brown flecks, narrowly lance-shaped margins slender-toothed or somewhat ragged. Flowers to 1.5 cm long, with a slender spur half as long as the lowest petal, petals blue to deep violet, the lower three often white at base and purple-pencilled, the lateral pair white-bearded. Fruits small capsules opening explosively by three valves[2]


Bloom Period

April-June

Distribution

Grasslands, open forests, rocky slopes, dry to damp meadows, lowland to alpine; widespread, Alaska to California, both sides of Cascades, east to Atlantic.[3]

Habitat

Dry to moist meadows, open woods, grasslands and open, disturbed ground from lowlands to near timberline[2]

Uses

Ecological: Key food species for the larvae of the silverspot butterfly.

Landscaping: Native violets "can produce the right substitute with a restrained beauty" to exotics such as pansies. "This is an easy, dependable and lovely plant for rather dry, open woods or lower reaches of the rockery in sun or partial shade." [4]

Propagation

Cold moist stratification improves germination. To stratify outdoors, sow in container from November through January, allow exposure to rain, do not protect from frost, until after germination. Best to sow several seeds into a single tray, pluck out and transplant individually in the spring. Emergence usually occurs once soil has warmed in April, sometimes May. Seed should be brown in color. Buff or pale colored seed indicates immature development.

Photo Gallery

References

  1. Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved from https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=22032#null
  2. 2.0 2.1 MacKinnon, A., Pojar, Jim, & Alaback, Paul B. (2004). Plants of the Pacific Northwest coast : Washington, Oregon, British Columbia & Alaska (Rev. ed.). Vancouver: Lone Pine Pub.
  3. Hitchcock, C. L., Cronquist, A., Giblin, D., & Legler, B. et al. (2018). Flora of the Pacific Northwest: an illustrated manual. Seattle: University of Washington Press
  4. Kruckeberg, A. (1996). Gardening with native plants of the Pacific Northwest (2nd ed., rev. and enl. ed.). Seattle : Vancouver: University of Washington Press ; Greystone Books.