Viola palmata L.
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Authority
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
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Family
Violaceae
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Scientific Name
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Description
Species Description - Acaulescent, with a short, oblique to erect rootstock, evidently spreading-hairy to virtually glabrous; lvs ascending or erect, the blade ± aligned with the petiole, the early ones often cordate and merely toothed as in no. 5 [Viola sororia Willd.], but at least the later ones (or all of them) variously lobed or dissected, or at least with large, sharp, spreading teeth toward the base, often trilobed, with broad, merely toothed central lobe and narrower, more cleft lateral lobes; fls about equaling or somewhat surpassing the early lvs, often surpassed by the later ones, deep to pale violet, varying to streaked or white, mostly 2–3 cm wide, the 3 lower pet bearded, or the spurred one seldom glabrous; cleistogamous fls on prostrate to erect peduncles; frs ovoid to ellipsoid, evidently surpassing the sep; seeds brown; 2n=54. Well drained soil in woods, clearings, and glades; Me. to Minn., s. to Fla. and Tex. Apr., May. The common phase in most of our range, as principally described above, is var. palmata. (V. brittoniana and V. septemloba, with strongly dissected lvs; V. chalcosperma; V. esculenta; V. lovelliana; V. pectinata; V. stoneana; V. triloba; V. viarum) Westward this passes into var. pedatifida (G. Don) Cronquist (V. pedatifida; V. egglestonii), mainly of the prairies from Alta. to Okla., e. to Man., Mich., Ind., and the cedar glades of Ky. and Tenn.; lvs more strongly dissected, typically 3-parted, each division again cleft into linear lobes, these often again cut into 2–4 segments, the earliest and latest lvs almost as much cut as the others. Extreme plants of var. palmata, from well outside the area of var. pedatifida, would pass as the latter var. in the absence of geographic data.
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Common Names
wood-violet