Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - Smooth yellow violet

SMOOTH YELLOW VIOLET

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Viola pubescens W.T. Aiton

Cherokee County, Kansas

Perennial

Height: 4-16 inches

Family: Violaceae - Violet Family

Flowering Period: April, May

Also Called:

Downy yellow violet, yellow forest-violet.

Stems:

Erect or decumbent, 1-several, glabrous or sparsely pubescent; stipules, prominent, leafless, on lower 1/2.

Leaves:

Basal leaves 0-5, long stalked, kidney-shaped to broadly egg-shaped; stem leaves 2-4, broadly heart- to egg-shaped, 1.5 to 4 inches long, up to 1/2 inch wider than long, pubescent to glabrous; margins shallow- or sharp-toothed; tips short-pointed; stalks shorter to longer than leaves, softly-hairy to glabrous; stipules broadly egg-shaped to lanceolate, 2/5 to 3/5 inch long.

Inflorescences:

Solitary flowers in leaf axils; stalks shorter to longer than leaves, pubescent to glabrous.

Flowers:

Sepals 5, 1/4 to 2/5 inch long, lanceolate to narrowly lanceolate, tips blunt or pointed, margins white, pubescent to glabrous; petals 5, 3/10 to 1/2 inch long, yellow; lower 3 with brownish-purple veins near bases; lateral 2 bearded; lowermost petal swollen on 1 side; stamens 5; small, closed, self-pollinating flowers also occur in upper axils.

Fruits:

Capsules, oblong-ovoid, 3/10 to 3/4 inch long, dark green to yellowish-green, conspicuously woolly to sparsely pubescent or glabrous; seeds numerous, tan to brown.

Habitat:

Low woodlands, thickets, and along stream banks; rarely in the open.

Distribution:

East 1/3 of Kansas.

Uses:

Native Americans used an infusion made from yellow violet to treat coughs, colds, and dysentery; a poultice of leaves for headaches; and soaked corn seeds in an infusion of the roots prior to planting to ward off insects.

Comments:

One of the first flowers of spring.

Smooth yellow violet flower