Viola ??

Discussion in 'Plants: Identification' started by amadej, Jun 16, 2007.

  1. amadej

    amadej Member

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    Hither,

    Which violet could this be?

    I found it in woods on a small meadow apparently growing wild in a large patch of about 2 x 5 meters. Yet the place is not far from nearby gardens and villages. The place is fairly humid, at 600m (1.800 feet) altitude, south exposition and in prealpine phytogeographical region of East Julian Alps, Slovenia. It seems the violet doesn't fit to anything described in our Plant determination key (Mala Flora Slovenije). It is almost sure nobody planted it there but it can be subspontaneous.

    Some details: the whole plant glabrous, without stolons, all leaves in rosettes. Strong horizontal rhizome with several rosettes each having 4-7 leaves (with 8-13 cm long petioles) and 1-5 flower stalks (12-18cm long). Leaves cordate +/- of the same length as width (5,5-7 cm), +/- of the same color on both sides. Stipules narrow lanceolate (2.5-4mm x 40-60mm) with few, irregular and short fringes (+/-15% of the width of the stipule). Flowers 2-3 cm wide and 2-2,5cm high, usually wider than tall. Very short rounded spur (3-4 mm long), darker in color than petals. Ovary papillose but not hairy. Style not much bend, stigma a small round plate. Not fragrant. Photographed on May 04. 2007.

    Any help appreciated very much!
    Warmest regards
    Amadej Trnkoczy
     

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  2. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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  3. amadej

    amadej Member

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    Thank you Ron. Some pictures on WEB (particularly the one showing close-up of the flower) show striking similarity to the flower I photographed. It is true that color and pattern of the petals are not very reliable for determination of violets in general (in addition taking into account Internet's problem with accurate color reproduction). Also V. sororia is native to North America and I live in Europe. Yet, after reading some other web pages related to V. sororia and its cultivars I am pretty sure the plant photographed is of that kind and that it escaped from a garden somewhere around. Must be quite aggressive since there was a patch of several square meters there, partially with a coverage near 100%.

    Warmest regards
    Amadej
     
  4. Daniel Mosquin

    Daniel Mosquin Paragon of Plants UBC Botanical Garden Forums Administrator Forums Moderator 10 Years

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    For what it's worth, I had a look in the European Garden Flora, and it seems like Viola sororia is rather widely cultivated.
     
  5. amadej

    amadej Member

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    Thank you Daniel. This was also my impression browsing Google (after Ron guided me to V. sororia). Interestingly, I looked at the only +/- comprehensive book about garden flora I have - 'The RHS gardner's encyclopedia of plants and flowers', but V. sororia is not mentioned. It may be that about 15 years old book is not up to date anymore. Cultivars change rapidly. Nevertheless, I believe we determined it correctly.

    Thanks again
    Amadej Trnkoczy
     

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