Viola rafinesquei E.L. Greene. Common name: Wild Pansy, Field Pansy, Johnny-jump-up. Phenology: Chasmogamous flower Feb-May; chasmogamous fruit Mar-May; cleistogamous fruit May-Jun. Habitat: Pastures, roadsides, lawns, other disturbed habitats, less commonly in dry rocky woodlands and barren. Distribution: 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, stipule with the terminal lobe slightly larger than but similar in shape to the lateral lobe and with margin entire or with up to 3 crenation per side, and leaf blade short and rather quadrate with margin entire or with up to 2 shallow crenation per side. It differs further from V. arvensis in the petal well surpassing the sepal, 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 cleistogamous (with 0 petals and 1 stamen).
Synonymy ⓘ: = Can, K4, POWO, Ballard () (in prep), Ballard, Kartesz, & Nishino (2023); = Viola bicolor Pursh — Ar, Fl2, FNA6, Mo3, NcTx, NS, 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. Basionym: Viola rafinesquei Greene 1899 "Urbasionym:" Viola bicolor Pursh 1804
Links to other floras: = Viola bicolor - FNA6
Show parent genus | Show parent in key(s)
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
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© Keith Bradley | Original Image ⭷
© Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC, permission granted to NCBG | Original Image ⭷
© Sonnia Hill | Original Image ⭷
© Armin Weise CC-BY | Original Image ⭷
© Alan Cressler: Viola bicolor, Stone Mountain Park, Dekalb County, Georgia 1 by Alan Cressler source | Original Image ⭷
© Alan M. Cressler | Original Image ⭷
© Gary P. Fleming | Original Image ⭷
© Gary P. Fleming | Original Image ⭷
© Aidan Campos source | Original Image ⭷
© Joey Shaw source | Original Image ⭷
© Bruce A. Sorrie | Original Image ⭷
© Armin Weise CC-BY | Original Image ⭷Feedback
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Horticultural Information
No horticultural data found for this taxon.