Plants of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

Canada Violet is a native erect perennial forb, growing 8 to 16 inches tall on stems that are slightly angular, green, and smooth to having very fine hair.

The leaves are of two types: Large, heart shaped basal leaves on long stalks and smaller stem leaves that are alternate on the stem. Stalks of basal leaves have hair when young. The stem leaves are also with heart-shaped bases and pointed tips. Both types have a distinctive palmate vein pattern, and margins that have crenations resembling coarse teeth. The underside is usually free of hair except if is the var. rugulosa. At the base of the leaf stalk of the stem leaves are are pair of stipules, linear in shape, without teeth.

Inflorescence: Flower stalks spring from the stem leaf axils, not from the base, as this violet has an above ground flowering stem, not a scape (a flowering stem that rises from the rhizome). Flowers are solitary, but several flower stalks may rise from the axils.

The flowers of the Violet family are are two types. Those that form an open flower are called "chasmogamous" (open marriage) and those that never open are called "cleistogamous" (closed marriage). Both types are bisexual (perfect) and set seed but at different times.

The chasmogamous flowers are fragrant, 5-parted and average 1-1/4 inches wide. The flower stalks usually have short fine hair as does the attached green calyx with its 5 long pointed lanceolate shaped spreading green sepals. The corolla has five white to pinkish petals which can have a pink to violet tinge on the back side, especially the upper two petals. The inside base of the petals have yellow tinting and the 3 lower petals have purple veins serving as nectar guides. The two side petals also have small whitish beards, set against the yellow area. Petals have rounded tips and are much larger than the sepals. The five stamens have short and thin greenish filaments; anthers are light yellow and attached lengthwise to the filaments. Each stamen has a dorsal appendage and the five appendages cohere tightly to form a hollow cone around the central section of the single style. The upper part of the pistil is also sparsely bearded near the style. These flowers can also self pollinate.

The cleistogamous flowers are not produced until after the tree canopy is leafed out - May to September. They are smaller and appear to be flower buds in the leaf axils. As in most violets the cleistogamous flowers produce the abundance of seed.

Seed: The fruit is an elliptic to oval initially green 3-valved capsule covered with short fine hair. At maturity it is brown and splits explosively, ejecting small brownish seeds.

Varieties: There are two. Leaves and flowers are about the same: Viola canadensis L. var. rugulosa, has a similar looking flower but with more hair on the stem and on the underside of leaves and the leaves are wider than long. This is the common Canada Violet found in Minnesota. The other variety is var. canadensis which is found in states and provinces east of Minnesota. That plant may have some fine hair, but is generally smooth.

 

Habitat: Canada Violet grows from short thick rootstocks which frequently have slender stolons which allows it to spread forming colonies. The plant requires moderate moisture levels and some summer shade so it is found along the woodland edges, thickets, river banks and damp meadows. Its long blooming period, makes it likely that you will see this flower on a spring visit to the Garden.

Names: The genus Viola is the Latin name for various sweet-scented flowers. The species canadensis means 'of Canada'. The author name for the plant classification, 'L.' is for Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), Swedish botanist and the developer of the binomial nomenclature of modern taxonomy.

Comparisons: The main distinguishing difference between V. canadensis and the many other common white violets is that the flowers of V. canadensis rise from the upper leaf axils and not directly from the roots.