Viola macloskeyi (Northern White Violet) - photos and description
Scapes elongate
Lateral petals and spur petal beardless
Lateral petals lightly bearded
Lateral petals in this flower with a few hairs
Bottom of leaf in above photo, bottom of leaves are hairless
General: Delicate violet of wet woods. Scapes
elongate taller than the leaves, scapes measured to 11 cm long, often
extending to 5 cm above the leaves. All stems from a single rootstalk,
no leafy stems.
Taxonomic
key to Saskatchewan's violets.
Flowers: Flowers solitary on long scapes, white in colour with the spur petal strongly purple lined. Lateral petals hairless or only with a few hairs. Flowers measured to 11 mm diameter, usually 10 mm or less in diameter. Spur measured to 3 mm long. Flowers with a very slight fragrance. Begins flowering about 1st of June.
Leaves: Leaves basal, may have two bract-like leaves mid-sem. Leaf blades hairless. Leaves orbicular to cordate, leaves small, usually less than 2.5 cm in length and width, crenate, blunt-tipped.
Height: Height measured to 11 cm.
Habitat: Forest wetlands along the eastern fringe of the province.
Abundance: This plant is extremely rare in Saskatchewan, listed as an S1 (as of 2021) by the Saskatchewan Conservation Data Centre.
Origin: Native.
Similar species: This plant is quite similar to Viola blanda which flowers at the same time and shares similar habitat. However Viola blanda has larger flowers (to 13 mm diameter), larger leaves (to 4 cm long, 3.5 cm wide), puberulent leaf undersides, and scapes that are generally at or below the level of its leaves.
When and where photographed: Above photos taken June 13th and 15th wet hummocks with Ostrich Ferns in spruce woods Hudson Bay district SK 425 km north east of Regina, SK, June 19th and July 2nd, wet grassy hummocks in alder thicket, shore of small lake, Porcupine Hills, about 500 km north east of our home in Regina, SK.