Viola minuscula Greene

Locations ofViola minuscula Greene in Virginia

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Detail

Family
Violaceae
Botanical Name
Viola minuscula Greene
Common Name
Smooth White Violet, Small White Violet, Northern White Violet
Synonym(s)
Viola pallens (Banks ex DC.) Brainerd; Viola macloskeyi Lloyd var. pallens (Banks ex DC) C.L. Hitchc.; Viola macloskeyi Lloyd ssp. pallens (Banks ex DC) M.S. Baker;
Flora of Virginia Name/Status
Viola pallens (Banks ex DC.) Brainerd
Comments
A northern species of wet, sphagnous areas of our higher mountains. The map presented here is only slightly modified from Atlas lll, though it is likely that many of those records represent misidentifications and that the species is much rarer than indicated. Russell maps the species only from Giles and Floyd counties. Additional specimens from Grayson and Washington are at VPI. Viola minuscula may be distinguished from V. blanda by its completely glabrous foliage, leaves about as broad as long or broader, and having small, symetric indentations on the margin rather than the asymetric, scalloped margin of V. blanda. Additional characters, especially in the field, are its all green, more erect petioles, leaf basal lobes not strongly overlapping as they are in V. blanda, and vernal leaves concolorous rather than having frequent pale green leaves mixed with darker ones as populations of V. blanda show.
Nomenclature follows Ballard, H.E., J.T. Kartesz, and M. Nishino. 2023. A taxonomic treatment of the Violets (Violaceae) of the northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. Jour. Torrey Bot. Soc. 150(1): 3-266.
Habitat
Sphagnous bogs, seeps, seepage swamps, and brook banks, mostly at middle to high elevations. Infrequent and local in the mountains.
Native Status
Native

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