Viola palustris L.

• Authority

  Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

• Family

  Violaceae

• Scientific Name

  Viola palustris L.

• Description

  Species Description - Delicate, glabrous plants from a long, slender rhizome, also stoloniferous; lvs thin, 2.5–3.5 cm wide, orbicular to reniform, crenulate, cordate or subcordate at base, the basal sinus wider than in no. 11 [Viola selkirkii Pursh]; fls 1.5 cm wide; pet pale lilac or lavender (or nearly white) with purple veins, the lateral ones sparsely bearded, the spur 2 mm; style dilated upwards in a vertical plane, with a conic beak on the lower side, the stigma within the tip of the beak, as in the next 6 spp.; frs 5–6 mm, green, ellipsoid; seeds buff; 2n=24, 48. Wet or moist places; circumboreal, in Amer. from Lab. to Alas., s. to the alpine regions of Me. and N.H., Manitou Isl., Mich., and in the West to Colo. and Calif. June–Aug. (V. epipsila, the diploid, including the Michigan plants)

• Common Names

  northern marsh-violet