Violaceae: Viola sororia
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Family Name
Violaceae
Common Name
Common blue violet, wood violet
Native American Name
Lakota: waȟpé tȟó čík’ala
Description
Viola sororia is a perennial, herbaceous plant with a fibrous root system and short, creeping rhizomes, often forming dense patches. Mature plants typically reach 10–30 cm in height. Stems are slender, erect or ascending, and mostly leafless except near the base. Leaves are alternate, simple, heart-shaped to ovate, 3–10 cm long and wide, with crenate to serrate margins and an acute to rounded tip. The upper leaf surface is medium green and glabrous or sparsely hairy, while the lower surface is paler and sometimes hairy. Petioles are long, 5–15 cm, often hairy. Stipules are present, ovate to lanceolate, 5–15 mm long, often toothed or fringed. Flowering occurs from April to June, with solitary, showy, zygomorphic flowers, 15–25 mm wide, born on slender peduncles rising above the foliage. The flowers have five petals; the lower petal is usually spurred and about 8 to 15 mm long and 3 to 6 mm wide, while the lateral petals measure 7 to 12 mm long and 4 to 7 mm wide, often with bearded bases. Sepals are lanceolate, green, generally 6 to 10 millimeters long and 1.5 to 3 millimeters wide. There are five stamens with yellow anthers arranged around the pistil, with filament bases forming nectar-producing spurs near the ovary. The pistil has a single, slender style ending in a capitate stigma. The fruit is a small, ovoid capsule, 5–12 mm long, splitting open at maturity from, June to August, to release numerous small seeds often equipped with elaiosomes encouraging ant dispersal. containing numerous tiny seeds, maturing. Common blue violet is native to South Dakota and occurs in moist woodlands, meadows, lawns, and shaded disturbed areas, preferring well-drained to moist, loamy soils under partial to full shade.
Horticulture Notes
Seed collection: Collect seed capsules in early summer (June–August) when mature and beginning to dehisce.
Germination: Seeds exhibit physiological dormancy and benefit from cold, moist stratification (60–90 days); sow in fall or stratify and sow in spring.
Vegetative propagation: Propagated by division of rhizomes or basal clumps in early spring.
Soils: Prefers well-drained, loamy soils.
Light: Thrives in partial to full shade.
Water: Prefers moderate moisture; tolerates short dry periods but not prolonged drought.
Additional Notes
Common blue violet is valued horticulturally for its early spring blooms and as a native groundcover in naturalistic gardens and woodland restorations. Ecologically, it provides nectar for early pollinators and serves as a larval host for fritillary butterflies.