Violets

First appearing in early spring and collectively blooming for a couple of months, violets are familiar to everyone. There are about 900 species around the world, and several of them that are difficult to tell apart grow locally. In fact, there are more species of violets in this catalog than any other genus. There are numerous shades of violets here in a continuum from white to deep purple growing in and around the edges of the lawn and throughout the swamp (some even in flooded spots). In the lawn they are considered weeds, but they are not so dense and prolific as to seriously threaten the grass (unlike the more common weed with a tiny violet flower, ). In the swamp in spots where they grow dense, they add a delightful touch of blue, a rare color.

The violet family includes some cultivated species like pansies. For another violet not listed in this section (because it does not have the name “Violet” in it) see .

The leaves of this violet are high in vitamins A and C and can be used in salads or cooked as greens, and the flowers can be made into candies and jellies. This is the only violet in this collection that has a stem with multiple leaves--all others have only basal leaves. Violets with this leaf structure are easier to tell apart. The only other one that comes close to this is the Long-Spurred Violet (Viola rostrata), but that has a very long, 1/2" spur being the lower petal, while the Dog Violet has a short 1/4" spur. This violet has exactly the same habitat deep in the swamp as the , but it is relatively rare, so to find it requires looking closely at every plant. This white flower with a purple interior is the most common violet in the lawn. By late April and early May there is an dazzling patch of several hundred square feet in the intermingled with the some blue violets and the tiny violet flowers of

There are fewer species of white violets than blue violets, so identification is a bit easier. There is another close candidate for this one: the Northern White Violet, but the northern’s leaves are blunt at the tip, while these are pointed, although the difference can be lost on individual samples. The greatest evidence for identification here is that the stems are fuzzy (“pubescent”) and the lateral petals are “bearded” as is obvious in the photo. The only unusual thing is that this violet should like moist woods, while here it is growing in the open grass in full sun. However, it does grow even denser in the shadier spots under the spruces. The leaf is heart-shaped, the stem is not furry, and the lower petal is bearded (which you can see in the enlarged photo), which narrows it down to the Broad-Leaved Wood Violet (Viola latiuscula) or LeConte’s (Pale Early) Violet. It has white throat like LeConte’s and it grows in moist woods, unlike the broad-leaved. The only troublesome aspect of this identification is that the leaves are not particularly narrow. This identification is probably accurate because of one distinctive and another uncommon feature. The hairs are swollen at the tip, and the blue color of the lateral petals gets darker toward the center. Of course, it grows in wet places like many other violets here, but it is not as common as the other blue violets. Because it has a noticeably deeper color it is easier to spot among the other blue violets. Two very similar white violets have tiny 1/2" flowers, about half the size of other violets: the Northern and the Sweet White Violet (Viola blanda). This is probably a northern because it grows extensively near the stream and in damp places, while the sweet white is not particularly attracted to dampness. Also these leaves are blunt and rather roundish, while the sweet white has deeply lobed leaves. However there are two problems with this identification: it has a noticeable fragrance (but maybe not a strong one) and the side petals are clearly twisted, both of which are characteristics of the sweet white and not the northern. One way to tell them apart is the color of the seed pods; one is purple and the other green. But the pods don’t appear when the flowers do, so this would mean tagging a tiny plant in the dense swamp to make an identification long after the flower is gone. This is one of the more common blue violets in the and swamp, fairly obvious to identify because of the leaf shape and the fact that it is very hairy. This one goes into the generic violet family until I can pin it down using properties of the stems and leaves. It is probably one of the blue violets listed above, but in a different shade. It could also be a hybrid. This is a nice leafy vine, but it has a big problem: it likes to grow in the same place as , often being intertwined with it. The color and shape of the leaves are also very similar to Poison Ivy, except that it has five leaflets instead of three. But in the spring when the leaves first start to come out, they begin as leaflets of three with just few serrations, looking almost exactly the same as Poison Ivy except for the fact that the center leaflet of Poison Ivy is always on a short stem, while not so on Virginia Creeper.

No photos of flowers are available. I have never been able to see one in bloom. The flowers of this are similar to those of the grape: unnoticeable small, greenish specks.