Colorado Plant Database
| IDENTIFICATION |
| Common Name: |
EARLY BLUE VIOLET |
| Family: |
Violet - Violaceae |
| Scientific Name: |
Viola adunca |
| Meaning of Name: |
adunca - hooked, referring to the flower spur. |
| Key Characteristics: |
leaves pubescent (hairy); leaves seldom clearly cordate (heart-shaped). |
| Flower Types: |
bilaterally symmetrical. |
| Flower Color: |
purple |
| Leaf Type: |
simple (not divided into similar parts). |
| Mature Height: |
to 5 inches. |
| Habitat: |
meadows, streamsides, aspen groves. |
| ECOLOGY |
| Growth Form: |
herbaceous |
| Growth Duration: |
perennial |
| Angio/Gymnosperm: |
angiosperm (plant with covered seed). |
| Monocot/Dicot: |
dicot (plants with two seed leaves and netted leaf veins). |
| Life Zone: |
montane/subalpine. |
| Frequency: |
common |
| Native/Alien: |
native |
| Season of Bloom: |
late spring to late summer (May - Aug.). |
| Eco Relationships: |
members of the violet family have evolved 2 types of flowers to ensure pollination: the showy, typical violet flower which offers both nectar and pollen to attract insects and cleistogomous flowers produced after the regular flowers, which never open at all and are self-fertilized; cleistogamy is a permanent "back up" system which ensures progeny even if weather or low insect populations cause failure of the primary insect pollination strategy; plants in this genus are host plants for various species of Fritillary butterflies. |
Version: 2.3.0 Release Date: Jan 2009 ©2009 Jefferson County ITS
