![]() Yellow |
![]() Multicoloured |
Yellow Violets
| ACAULESCENT (without a stem) | CAULESCENT (with a stem) |
| none in New Brunswick | Viola pubescens var. scabriuscula |
Multicolored violets:
These introduced violets may be separated from the native violets by their foliaceous (leaf-like) stipules that are laciniate or pinnatifid.
| ACAULESCENT (without a stem) | CAULESCENT (with a stem) |
| none in New Brunswick | Viola arvensis Viola tricolor |
- Sepals shorter than the petals by more than 2 mm (about 70 % the length of the petal)
flowers longer than 1.5 cm;
corolla yellow-white or yellow-orange with a yellow center, and the upper petals dark blue on the apical half, or dark blue throughout with a yellow center, then you probably have, Viola tricolor - Sepals longer than or at most 2 mm shorter than the petals
flowers less than 1.0 cm long; corolla often yellow-white with a yellow center, then you probably have, Viola arvensis
Viola pubescens var. scabriuscula
Torrey & Gray smooth yellow violet (yellow forest violet)
(pronounced: VY-oh-lah pew-BES-senz variety ska-BREE-huss-kew-lah)
(pubescens..means; pubescent, i.e., with hairs; scabriuscula..means: somewhat scabrous, i.e., rough)
(syn: Viola pensylvanica Michaux)
(The variety pubescens is found in western and southern Quebec, and central Maine, where it is uncommon to rare)
Habitat: in deciduous hardwoods in association with Sugar maple (Acer saccharum), White ash (Fraxinus americana), Red ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) and Basswood (Tilia americana), in moist high-terrace floodplain forests in rich loam, in cool, shaded rocky slopes, and at the edge of woods.
Flowering: mid-May to early-June (early spring, when maple leaves are emerging)
Notable features:
- the only yellow flowered caulescent (stemmed) violet in New Brunswick;
- stems two or more from the apex of the rhizome, with 1 to 3 basal leaves;
- leaf blades dark green, with a short apex, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, usually 8 to 15 teeth per margin; 4) flowers yellow, with brown-purple lines;
- lateral petals pubescent ("bearded") with hairs rounded at the apex;
- stolons absent; rhizomes 3 to 5 mm thick; plants in tufts or form dense colonies;
- sepals ciliate, at least at the base (rarely eciliate);
- "style capitate, beakless, provided with minute hairs at or around the sides of the summit, the stigma (is) located in a round opening in front of the capitate portion" (Haines 2001)(Infrageneric group: Chamaemelanium), the style is distinctly bent; the ovary is minutely hairy;
![]() style and stigma |
![]() Viola pubescens var. scabriuscula |
![]() Viola Viola pubescens var. scabriuscula |
Multicolored corolla (introduced violets)
Viola arvensis
Murray (pronounced: VY-oh-lah ar-VEN-siss) European field pansy (wild pansy)
(means: of farmed or cultivated land, of fields) (syn: Viola tricolor var. arvensis (Murray) Boissier)
Habitat: usually dry, sandy, open, disturbed areas, such as cultivated fields, prairies, pastures, edges of lawns, and roadsides.
Flowering: late-May through June (late spring, when maple leaves have reached their full size)
Notable features:
- stems caulescent;
- leaf blades longer than wide, bases cuneate; glabrous to pubescent; margin crenate-serrate and ciliate;
- stipules foliaceous (leaf-like), laciniate into 5 to 9 lateral segments and a larger terminal segment;
- flowers less than 1.5 cm long, cream (pale yellow) with a yellow center, sometimes with purple tips; usually frontally flattened;
- sepals ciliate, longer than or at most 2 mm shorter than the petals;
- lateral petals pubescent with hairs rounded at the apex;
- plants taprooted annuals;
- "style dilated upward into a globose, hollow apex with a wide orifice on the lower side "(Haines 2001) (Infrageneric group: Melanium), style is distincty bent, the ovary has minute hairs.
![]() style and stigma |
![]() Viola arvensis |
![]() Viola arvensis |
Viola tricolor
Linnaeus (pronounced: VY-oh-lah TRY-kull-lur) Johnny-jump-up
(means: three colors, of the petals)
Habitat: garden escape around habitations, lawns, cultivated fields, roadsides;
Flowering: mid-May through June (mid to late spring, when maple leaves are developing and when they have reached their full size);
Notable features:
- stems caulescent, angled;
- leaf blades longer than wide, bases cuneate; glabrous to pubescent; margin crenate-serrate and ciliate;
- stipules foliaceous (leaf-like), pinnatifid, the terminal lobe toothed;
- flowers 1.5 cm to 2.5 cm long, cream (pale yellow) with a yellow center, the tips of the upper petals are purple;
- sepals ciliate or eciliate, shorter than the petals by more than 2 mm (about 70 % the length of the petal);
- lateral petals pubescent with hairs rounded at the apex;
- plants annuals; taproot 1 to 3 mm thick
- "style dilated upward into a globose, hollow apex with a wide orifice on the lower side "(Haines 2001) (Infrageneric group: Melanium), style is distincty bent, the ovary has minute hairs.
![]() style and stigma |
![]() Viola tricolor (Haines 2001) |
Top of Page
Violet Intro; Violet Features; Key to Violet/Purple/Blue; Key to White
Back to the NB Botany Club website









