Viola pubescens Aiton. Section: Chamaemelanium. Hairy Yellow Forest Violet. Phen: Chasmogamous flower Mar-Jun; chasmogamous fruit Apr-Aug; cleistogamous fruit Jun-Aug. Hab: Rich deciduous forests. Dist: ME and s. QC west to SD, south to DE, NC, TN, MO, NE, and TX.

ID notes:As narrowly circumscribed here, this species is very uniform in morphology, as compared to the much more variable V. eriocarpa with which it is often confused. Confusion has been historically due largely to quite extensive recognized local and regional trait variation in V. eriocarpa, resulting in large-scale misidentification of V. eriocarpa specimens with some but not all of the traits of V. pubescens, particularly widespread moderately to heavily hirtellous few-stemmed individuals (or populations) of V. eriocarpa. This species can easily be separated from V. eriocarpa by typically solitary stems, virtual absence of basal leaves, densely spreading-hirsute foliage and peduncles, 2-3 cauline leaves clustered in the upper 1/5-1/3 of the stem, typically ovate stipules with cuneate base, broader cauline leaf blades with broadly cuneate to truncate base and obtuse to short abruptly acute apex, and first fully expanded leaf (at the second node) with 13–26 marginal teeth per side (northern populations having 16 or more, thus expressing no overlap with V. eriocarpa).

Origin/Endemic status: Native

Synonymy: = Ar, G, NcTx, S, S13, Tat, Va, WV, Ballard, Kartesz, & Nishino (2023); = Viola eriocarpa Schwein. var. eriocarpa – RAB; = Viola pubescens Aiton var. pubescens – FNA6, Il, K1, NE, Pa, Tn, Ballard () (in prep), Haines (2001), McKinney & Russell (2002); Viola eriocarpon (Nutt.) Schwein. var. eriocarpon; < Viola pubescens Aiton – C, GrPl, GW2, K3, K4, W; > Viola pubescens Aiton var. peckii House – F; > Viola pubescens Aiton var. pubescens – F

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Wetland Indicator Status:

• Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain: FACU (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
• Eastern Mountains and Piedmont: FACU (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
• Great Plains: FACU (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
• Midwest: FACU (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)
• Northcentral & Northeast: FACU (taxonomic split from wetland indicator species)

Heliophily: 2