Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Malpighiales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Viola affinis
FAMILY
Violaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
For the most current and comprehensive body of information regarding violets in our region, visit the new website Violets (Violaceae) of the Great Plains and Eastern North America.
Read more about LeConte's Violet at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
This species has the distinction of being the only Borealiamericanae violet to have frequently hirtellous cleistogamous capsules; the only other acaulescent eastern North American violet with hirtellous capsules is the often cultivated and escaped European V. odorata. Read more in Weakley's Flora.
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Viola affinis
FAMILY
Violaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH A taxonomic treatment of the violets (Violaceae) of the northeastern US and adjacent Canada (Ballard, Kartesz, & Nishino, 2023)
Viola affinis
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 6 (2015)
Viola affinis
INCLUDED WITHIN Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2015)
Viola affinis
INCLUDED WITHIN Tennessee Flora Committee (2015)
Viola missouriensis
INCLUDED WITHIN Violaceae of the Southeastern US (McKinney & Russell, 2002)
Viola sororia var. missouriensis
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 130-02-004:
Viola affinis FAMILY Violaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Viola affinis
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Viola affinis
COMMON NAME:
LeConte's Violet, Sand Violet, Thinleaf Violet, Missouri Violet
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_viaf2_001_lvd
)
Herbarium of Clemson University h_cu45564
April Calhoun County SC
Earliest leaves reniform, widely deltate, to ovate; midseason leaves deltate, per Violaceae of the Southeastern US (McKinney & Russell, 2002).
)
Herbarium of Clemson University h_cu81583
April Mecklenburg County NC
Largest leaf blades narrowly ovate-triangular, per Weakley's Flora (2023).
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmvaffinis_2
Month Unknown
)
Patrick D. McMillan pdmviola_affinis
Month Unknown
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/14/23):
Viola affinis
FAMILY
Violaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Viola affinis
FAMILY
Violaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
A taxonomic treatment of the violets (Violaceae) of the northeastern US and adjacent Canada (Ballard, Kartesz, & Nishino, 2023)
Viola affinis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America north of Mexico, vol. 6
Viola affinis
INCLUDED WITHIN
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2015)
Viola affinis
INCLUDED WITHIN
Tennessee Flora Committee (2015)
Viola missouriensis
INCLUDED WITHIN
Violaceae of the Southeastern US (McKinney & Russell, 2002)
Viola sororia var. missouriensis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 130-02-004:
Viola affinis
FAMILY
Violaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Britton & Brown Illus Flora of Northeast US & adjacent Canada (Gleason, 1952)
Viola affinis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Viola affinis
2358
Forb
Annual/Perennial
Habitat: Damp to saturated (less typically periodically inundated), often sandy soils bordering vernal pools, streams and rivers in mesic to wet forests, and on terraces in floodplains and swamp borders, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Carolina Piedmont, Carolina Coastal Plain, & SC Mtns (uncommon or uncertain elsewhere in GA & NC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Plant acaulescent (without aerial stems)
Leaf blade glabrous, or with hairs confined to upper surface of basal lobes
FLOWER:
Spring
Blue-violet
(with conspicuous white centers)
Bilaterally symmetrical
Spurred and lateral petals bearded
5 sepals
5 petals
5 stamens
FRUIT:
Summer
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Forest Plants of the Southeast and Their Wildlife Uses (Miller & Miller, 2005) p198
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p052
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p080
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p103
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p104
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".