Viola pallens

Etymology

Viola is the Latin word for sweet scented flowers; pallens is Latin, referring to the pale color of the flower.

Native Habitat

Moist woodlands, bogs, fens and along shorelines.

Garden Uses

The small fragrant violet is useful as a groundcover in damp areas.

Overview

The Northern white violet is a small (2" to 5” tall) perennial violet that colonizes wet and sunny or shady locations along stream banks and beside springs and ponds. The small flowers are very fragrant.

Leaves and Stems

The leaves are simple, lobed and unlobed, and grow only at the base of the plant. Mature leaves are usually 1' to 3” long and wide. Mature leaves are roundish and deeply heart-shaped at the base with shallow teeth around the edges. The stems arise from a low rosette of basal leaves. The stems are mostly hairless, though they may have a few sparse hairs, and single – holding one flower. Plants spread vegetatively via creeping rhizomes, stolons, (runners along the ground) and seeds.

Flowers

The ¼" to ½” single bare flowers are white and are bilaterally symmetric. They have five petals and may have a few hairs on the side petals. The lower petal may have purple lines – the nectar guides. The flowers of the Violet family are of two types. Those that form an open flower are called "chasmogamous" (open marriage) and those that never open are called "cleistogamous" (closed marriage). Both types are bisexual (perfect) and set seed but at different times.

Fruit/Seed

The fruit is a green, oval capsule that splits into 3 sections, containing numerous brown to black seeds.

Animal Associates

Pollination is usually by bees. It is a larval host for some butterflies and the seeds are eaten by birds and other wildlife. Ants gather the seeds for their nutritious, oily appendages called eliasomes and bring them to their underground nests.

Propagation

Plants spread vegetatively via creeping rhizomes, stolons (runners along the ground) and seeds.

Ethnobotanical Uses

Like other violets, the leaves are edible and nutritious – providing a good amount of vitamins A and C. The edible flowers can be made into candy, used as decoration and eaten in salad. The Cherokee soaked their corn in an infusion of white violet roots just before planting to keep away pests.

Garden Location

West Woods (see garden map)

Anecdotal Information

Roman mythology holds that the powerful god Zeus, fell in love with a beautiful nymph named Io. Upon learning this, Zeus’ jealous wife Hera, turned Io into a white heifer. Unhappy with her situation, and having to eat roughage she was not used to, Io cried. Feeling pity on Io, but unable to undo his wife’s deed, Zeus caused Io’s tears to turn into flowers that we now call violets wherever they landed on earth. You may see that Io was indeed very unhappy as violets occur in many different habitats, some in profusion.