Prairie Violet

(Viola pedatifida)

 

   

 

Color Photograph: Paul Jackson, Cedar Creek Natural History Area, LTER, U.S. Dept. Energy and National Science Foundation.

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Prairie Violet (Viola pedatifida G. Don)

Identification: Leaves basal and flowers on separate stems. Flowers light violet-blue. Leaves deeply cut into narrow, linear segments, each segment typically bifid or trifid at its apex.

Distribution: Found primarily in the plains region of central North America, extending eastward to Ohio and Arkansas.

Habitat: Prairies of the western parts of eastern North America.

Flowering period: April to June.

Similar Species: Prairie Violet is similar to Birdfoot Violet, but the leaf lobes are narrower and the apices of the lobes more deeply divided into bifid or trifid lobes. The prairie habitat is distinctive. Coast Violet occurs along the coastal regions of eastern North America, not on the prairies.

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