JOHNNY-JUMP-UP
File Size: 105 KB
 
Viola bicolor  Pursh
[=Viola rafinesquii Greene]
Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Annual
Height: 2-10 inches
Family: Violaceae - Violet Family
Flowering Period:   March, April
Also Called: Wild pansy, field pansy.
Stems: Erect or often branched from bases and above, slender, glabrous or sometimes short hairy.
Leaves: Alternate, simple, stalked, egg-shaped or circular to spatulate, 1/4 to 1 inch long, 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide; margins shallowly toothed to nearly entire; tips rounded; stipules large, palmately lobed, leaf-like.
Inflorescences: Solitary flowers in leaf axils, stalks 1/2 to 1 inch long.
Flowers: Small; sepals 5, oblong-lanceolate, margins fringed with hairs, tips pointed; petals 5, bluish white or blue, darkly veined, 2 lateral petals bearded, lowest petal yellow toward base, short-spurred; stamens 5.
Fruits: Capsules, oblong, yellowish; seeds tiny, numerous, smooth, yellowish.
Habitat: Prairies, pastures, open woodlands, roadsides, and waste areas, most abundant on sandy soils.
Distribution: East 4/5 of Kansas.
Uses: Native Americans used Johnny-jump-up to treat colds, coughs, and headaches.
Comments: Johnny-jump-up spreads by seed and appears in patches or colonies. The name refers to the plant's quick growth in the spring, i.e. it "jumps-up".

Johnny-jump-up flower
69 KB
Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Johnny-jump-up leaves
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Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Johnny-jump-up sepals
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Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas
Johnny-jump-up
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Konza Prairie, Riley County, Kansas