Angiosperms (Flowering Plants) • Earth.com

Pinto violet

(Viola ocellata)

galery
en

Description

Viola ocellata is a species of violet known by the common names pinto violet, two-eyed violet, and western heart's ease. It is native to southern Oregon and northern and central California, where it occurs in the coastal foothills and mountain ranges. It sometimes grows in serpentine soils and in quicksilver mines. This rhizomatous herb produces a hairy erect or decumbent stem measuring 5 to 37 centimetres (2.0 to 14.6 in) long. The leaves have heart-shaped or roughly lance-shaped blades borne on petioles a few centimeters long. A solitary flower is borne on a long, upright stem. It has five white petals with yellow bases, the lowest three veined with purple and the two lateral ones with purple eyespots. The inside of the flower has long hairs. The outer surfaces, at least of the two upper petals, is usually stained dark red or purple. It capsules are spherical and are 5–11 millimetres (0.20–0.43 in) long while its peduncles are puberulent and are 1–10 centimetres (0.39–3.94 in) long. The seeds of the plant are brownish-purple in colour and are 2 millimetres (0.079 in) long. The rootstocks are often long and stolon-like. The species is a host plant of the butterfly Boloria epithore. Viola is a genus of flowering plants in the violet family Violaceae. It is the largest genus in the family, containing between 525 and 600 species. Most species are found in the temperate Northern Hemisphere; however, some are also found in widely divergent areas such as Hawaii, Australasia, and the Andes. Some Viola species are perennial plants, some are annual plants, and a few are small shrubs. Many species, varieties and cultivars are grown in gardens for their ornamental flowers. In horticulture the term pansy is normally used for those multi-colored, large-flowered cultivars which are raised annually or biennially from seed and used extensively in bedding. The terms viola and violet are normally reserved for small-flowered annuals or perennials, including the wild species. Annual or perennial caulescent or acaulescent (with or without a visible plant stem above the ground) herbs, shrubs or very rarely treelets. In acaulescent taxa the foliage and flowers appear to rise from the ground. The remainder have short stems with foliage and flowers produced in the axils of the leaves (axillary).

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order:Malpighiales
Family:Violaceae
Genus:Viola
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