Larkspur violet

Description

Viola pedatifida, known variously as prairie violet, crow-foot violet, larkspur violet, purple prairie violet, and coastal violet, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the Violet family (Violaceae). It is native to Canada and the United States. Prairie violet was first formally named in 1831 by the Scottish botanist George Don (1798–1856). The specific epithet pedatifida means "palmately divided with cleft segments" in botanical Latin, in reference to the leaves, which look like a bird's foot with the outer toes again parted. It may hybridize with the common blue violet, Viola sororia. Prairie violet grows 5–30 cm (2.0–11.8 in) tall with violet flowers and between 2–11 deeply divided leaves. It is an acaulescent violet, meaning it lacks leaves on the flowering stems. The leaves have 5–9 lanceolate to linear lobes, growing up to 7 cm (2.8 in) long and 8 cm (3.1 in) across. Prairie violet flowers between March and June. The flowers are light violet, the lower three petals white near the base, usually with some hairs. It forms ellipsoid capsules in the summer. Viola pedatifida is native broadly across the central United States and south-central Canada, from Alberta to Ontario, south to Arkansas, west to New Mexico. It has a disjunct distribution in Virginia where it grows in Appalachian shale barrens. Across much of its range, prairie violet grows in dry prairies and other dry, sunny habitats. 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.