Viola macloskeyi - (image 1 of 5)
Taxonomy
Family: Violaceae
Habitat
Springy soil and along cold streams. Can be found in shallow water.
Associates
Distribution
Most of the U.S. except the central southern states.
Morphology
Herbaceous perennial. Leaves all basal, broad, longer than wide, cordate at base with a shallow basal sinus; petioles and peduncles green. Flowers white, beardless, the three lower petals striped with purple at the base, the upper not or slightly reflexed.
Some of these differences between this species and the very similar V. blanda.
V. blanda -Leaves deeply lobed at the base. Upper two petals reflexed and twisted; lateral two petals pointing forward. Petioles and peduncles reddish. Seed capsule green. Deep organic soil under conifers.
V. macloskeyi - Leaves more shallowly lobed. Upper two petals not (or slightly) reflexed, not twisted; lateral two petals straighter and more spreading. Seed capsule purple. Springy soil, often in shallow water.
Notes
Flowers April to May
Wetland indicator: Facultative Wetland +
Flowers not as likely to be fragrant as V. blanda. The plants pictured here are ssp. pallens, which some authors call V. pallens (Banks ex DC.) Brainerd.
References
Gleason, Henry A. and A. Cronquist. 1991. Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada. Second Ed.
The New York Botanical Garden. Bronx, NY
Swink, F. and G. Wilhelm. 1994. Plants of the Chicago Region.
Indiana Academy of Science. The Morton Arboretum. Lisle, Illinois.
USDA, NRCS. 2002. The PLANTS Database, Version 3.5 (http://plants.usda.gov).
National Plant Data Center, Baton Rouge, LA 70874-4490 USA.
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Michael Hough © 2005 |