Viola rafinesquei Greene. Section: Melanium. Subsection: Cleistogamae. Wild Pansy, Field Pansy, Johnny-jump-up. Phen: Chasmogamous flower Feb-May; chasmogamous fruit Mar-May; cleistogamous fruit May-Jun. Hab: Pastures, roadsides, lawns, other disturbed habitats, less commonly in dry rocky woodlands and barrens. Dist: MA and NY west to SD and CO, south to Panhandle FL, TX, and AZ.

ID notes: This species is quite easily distinguished from the two widely distributed, introduced pansy species, V. arvensis and V. tricolor, in the absence of basal leaves, its commonly uniformly pale blue corolla and yellow throat, stipules with the terminal lobe slightly larger than but similar in shape to the lateral lobes and with margins entire or with up to 3 crenations per side, and leaf blade short and rather quadrate with margins entire or with up to 2 shallow crenations per side. It differs further from V. arvensis in the petals well surpassing the sepals, a trait it shares with V. tricolor.

Origin/Endemic status: Native

Taxonomy Comments: Under the ICN, the spelling of the epithet is corrected to 'rafinesquei".

Other Comments: Winter annual plants flower chasmogamously first, and then progressively reduce petal size until later flowers are all chasmogamous (with 0 petals and 1 stamen).

Synonymy ⓘ: = Ballard () (in prep), Ballard, Kartesz, & Nishino (2023); = Viola bicolor Pursh – Ar, Fl2, FNA6, K1, K3, K4, NcTx, Pa, Tn, Va, WH3, McKinney & Russell (2002), later homonym; = Viola kitaibeliana Schult. var. rafinesquii (Greene) Fernald – F, Tat; = Viola rafinesquii Greene – C, G, GrPl, Il, RAB, S, S13, Tx, W, WV, unacceptable orthographic variant

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Wetland Indicator Status:

• Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FAC (name change)
• Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FACU (name change)
• Great Plains: FAC (name change)
• Midwest: FACU (name change)
• Northcentral & Northeast: FACU (name change)

Heliophily ⓘ: 8