Viola glaberrima (Gingins ex Chapman) House. Section: Chamaemelanium. Common name: Northern Wedgeleaf Violet. Phenology: Chasmogamous flower Mar-May; chasmogamous fruit Apr-Jun; cleistogamous fruit Jul-Aug. Habitat: Rich mesic to wet-mesic forests on lower slopes and bottomlands, especially over mafic or calcareous rocks. Distribution: Sw. PA, s. OH south to se. KY, sw. NC, c. NC, and nc. SC.
ID notes: In chasmogamous flower, this species might be confused with other caulescent yellow-flowered species with leaf blades longer than broad, such as occasional specimens of V. eriocarpa and V. hastata. It differs from V. eriocarpa in its solitary stems with 1 or no basal leaves, cauline leaves clustered in the uppermost fourth of the plant, and cauline leaf blades with rounded to cuneate base; and from V. hastata in leaf blades rhombic-ovate or ovate with a cuneate to rounded base and uniformly green upper leaf surface. In fruit, besides the above distinctions, it can be separated from V. canadensis (and V. rugulosa, not in our region) by the fewer crenate-serrate teeth on the leaf blade margins, and the small herbaceous stipules. Its solitary stem with leaves clustered at the top, and entire stipules distinguish it from the caulescent rostrate violets often growing with it (V. labradorica, V. rostrata, and V. striata).
Origin/Endemic status: Endemic
Taxonomy Comments: Usually synonymized under V. tripartita without taxonomic recognition or treated as a variety of that species, but recent studies confirm that this and the earlier synonym V. tenuipes are distinct from V. tripartita and from each other, each warranting species rank.
Synonymy ⓘ: = K4, POWO, Ballard, Kartesz, & Nishino (2023); = Viola tripartita Elliott var. glaberrima (Ging. ex Chapm.) R.M.Harper — G, Pa, RAB, S, S13, W, Ballard () (in prep); < Viola tripartita Elliott — C, F, Fl2, FNA6, NS, Tn, Va, WH3, WV, McKinney & Russell (2002). Basionym: Viola hastata Michx. var. glaberrima Ging. ex Chapm. 1897
Links to other floras: < Viola tripartita - FNA6
Show parent genus | Show parent in key(s)
Heliophily ⓘ: 2
Hover over a shape, letter, icon, or arrow on the map for definition or see the legend.
© Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
© Shaun Pogacnik, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Shaun Pogacnik source CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
© Andrew Lane Gibson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Andrew Lane Gibson source CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
© Andrew Lane Gibson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Andrew Lane Gibson source CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷Feedback
See something missing or incorrect about Viola glaberrima? Let us know here:
- Please include your name and if possible, email in case when need to clarify what you wrote.
- If you opt out of including email, please be as specific as possible (e.g., which photo is incorrect?)
- Please do not submit questions asking to identify plants or about horticultural topics (e.g., how do I control an invasive plant in my garden?). Instead, those questions can be submitted here for the Carolinas region only.
- Please do not send us feedback about unkeyed species as this work is ongoing.
- Please allow time for flora edits to show in our next data release. We greatly appreciate your feedback but may require extra time to research complicated taxonomic issues.
Horticultural Information
No horticultural data found for this taxon.