Viola cucullata Aiton. Section: Nosphinium. Subsection: Borealiamericanae. Blue Marsh Violet, Bog Violet. Phen: Chasmogamous flower Apr-Jul; chasmogamous fruit Jun-Jul; cleistogamous fruit Jul-Aug. Hab: Bogs, seeps, margins of spring branches. Dist: NL (Newfoundland) west to MN, south to SC, GA, AL, MS, and MO.

ID notes:In chasmogamous flower, only V. communis f. priceana could be mistaken for this species, since both produce pale corollas with a conspicuously contrasting dark eyespot around the throat, and have a glabrous spurred petal and prominent auricles; V. cucullata differs from V. communis f. priceana in having flowers strongly overtopping the leaves, linear to linear-lanceolate sepals acuminate from the base, and short lateral petal beards with strongly clavate to doorknob-shaped hairs that do not obscure the throat of the corolla. In cleistogamous fruit this species is distinct from several other glabrous uncut-leaved taxa, such as V. affinis, V. species 3, V. latiuscula, V. missouriensis, and V. sororia in producing unspotted cleistogamous capsules on tall erect peduncles. Among taxa with unspotted capsules on ascending to erect peduncles, it differs from V. communis, V. domestica, V. species 3, V. pratincola, and V. retusa in the taller peduncles reaching or exceeding the petioles, longer auricles, and unspotted dark brown to reddish-brown seeds.

Origin/Endemic status: Native

Synonymy: = C, FNA6, G, GW2, Il, K1, K3, K4, NE, Pa, RAB, S, S13, Tat, Tn, Va, W, Ballard () (in prep), Ballard, Kartesz, & Nishino (2023), Gil-ad (1998), Haines (2001), McKinney & Russell (2002); > Viola cucullata Aiton – WV; > Viola cucullata Aiton var. cucullata – F; > Viola obliqua Hill; > Viola oconensis House

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Wetland Indicator Status:

• Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: OBL
• Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FACW
• Midwest: OBL
• Northcentral & Northeast: OBL

Heliophily: 5