| IDENTIFICATION |
| Common Name: |
EARLY BLUE VIOLET |
| Other Common Names: |
mountain blue violet |
| Scientific Name: |
Viola adunca |
| Derivation: |
adunca - hooked, referring to the flower spur. |
| Family: |
Violet - Violaceae |
| Family Characteristics: |
irregular flowers (bilaterally symmetrical, can be divided only one way to produce mirror images); 5 separate petals, the lower one with a spur-like nectary (nectar gland); spurred anthers (pollen-bearing part of the male organ); has cleistogamous (closed, self-pollinating) flowers in addition to chasmogamous (open, insect-pollinated) flowers; leaves alternate (one leaf per node - joint of the stem where the leaves join stem), simple (not divided into many similar parts), sometimes lobed or dissected; fruit an explosive capsule (dry, multi-chambered fruit splitting at maturity). |
| Species Characteristics: |
leaves pubescent (hairy); leaves seldom clearly cordate (heart-shaped). |
| Mature Height: |
to 5 inches. |
| Flower Color: |
purple |
| Flower Symmetry: |
bilateral |
| Flower Structure: |
flowers bisexual (male and female parts in same flower). |
| Fruit Color: |
green |
| Fruit Type: |
capsule (dry, multi-celled fruit that splits open on maturity). |
| Leaf Type: |
simple (not divided into similar parts). |
| ECOLOGY |
| Frequency: |
common |
| Growth Form: |
herbaceous |
| Life Cycle: |
perennial |
| Class: |
angiosperm (plant with covered seed). |
| SubClass: |
dicot (plants with two seed leaves and netted leaf veins). |
| Season of Bloom: |
late spring to late summer (May - Aug.). |
| Life Zone: |
montane/subalpine. |
| Habitat: |
meadows, streamsides, aspen groves. |
| 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. |
| WEED MANAGEMENT |
| Origin: |
native |
Version: 2.4.1 Release Date: June 2010 ©2010 Jefferson County ITS
