Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

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