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Key to Viola

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Show caption*© Scott Ward 1 Plant caulescent (producing aerial stems bearing leaves and flowers at above-ground nodes).

2 Corolla yellow, or white with a yellow center (sometimes fading or drying to lavender), ventral surface of petals commonly pink- or purple- to brown-tinged); stipules entire or erose  Key to Viola, Key A: Caulescent violets with yellow or white flowers, and entire or erose stipules

2 Corolla wholly cream-colored, or cream with a yellow center, or pale blue, violet to purple, or multicolored (violet to purple with orange or yellow); stipules fringed or deeply lobed  Key to Viola, Key B: Caulescent violets with purple, pale blue, cream, or multicolored flowers, and fringed or lobed stipules

Show caption*© Bruce A. Sorrie 1 Plant acaulescent (with leaves and flowers/fruits arising separately from the rootstock) at spring flowering (V. rotundifolia is acaulescent during spring flowering and is included here, but it produces a stolon-like prostrate stem in summer with 0-1 leaf and a cyme with 1-3 capsules).

3 Corolla yellow; leaf blades (sub)orbicular; leaf blades nearly or completely prostrate on substrate, especially during fruit  Viola rotundifolia

3 Corolla violet, purple, blue, or white; leaf blades variously shaped; leaf blades (some at least on a plant) usually held well above the substrate (commonly prostrate on substrate during fruit in V. hirsutula and V. villosa, at least the outer leaves prostrate in V. fimbriatula).

Show caption*© Duke Herbarium staff       4 Plant producing stolons (stolons absent in V. renifolia); corolla violet, or white with greenish-white throat, mostly < 1 cm long in profile (> 1 cm, in V. odorata with white or purple corolla)  Key to Viola, Key C: Acaulescent violets with stolons and white flowers (flowers commonly purple in V. odorata)

Show caption*© theo_witsell, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by theo_witsell       4 Plant not producing stolons; corolla violet to purple (lower three or all five petals blue in V. pedata, white with grayish-violet eyespot around throat in V. communis [V. priceana], whitish in V. floridana [“peninsular Florida” variant], white in rare albinos of many species), > 1 cm long in profile

Show caption*© theo_witsell, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by theo_witsell         5 At least the largest leaf blades notched, incised, coarsely toothed, lobed or dissected, or bearing linear marginal processes.  Key to Viola, Key D: Acaulescent violets lacking stolons, with lobed leaves, and blue, violet, or purple flowers (white in rare albinos, white with heavy blue-gray eyespot in V. communis [V. priceana], whitish with purple eyespot in V. floridana [“peninsular Florida” variant])

Show caption*© Gary P. Fleming         5 All leaf blades undivided, margins merely crenate or serrate (pectinately serrate in V. pectinata; occasional V. edulis in early chasmogamous flower without lobed leaf blades will key to V. langloisii but has ovate-triangular sepals with shorter broader auricles < 2 mm long).  Key to Viola, Key E: Acaulescent violets lacking stolons, with unlobed leaves