E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Viola odorata L.
sweet violet
Violaceae (Violet family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

Distribution of Viola odorata
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Species Information

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Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

General:
Perennial herb from a rhizome, with stolons, plants up to 15 cm tall; stems lacking.

Leaves:
Basal leaves heart-shaped, toothed, the blades 2-6 cm long, 1.5-5 cm wide, the stalks up to 12 cm long, smooth or finely hairy; stem leaves lacking; stipules lanceolate, entire.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of single, axillary flowers; petals 5, white to violet, the lower petal 1.2-1.6 cm long including the 3- to 4-mm long pouched spur, the lower 3 not bearded, the lateral pair usually bearded; sepals 5, lanceolate; style heads hooked.

Fruits:
Capsules, smooth; seeds cream-coloured.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Mesic to dry roadsides and waste places in the lowland zone; infrequent on SE Vancouver Island, Galiano Island and the Vancouver area; introduced from Europe.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Status Information

Origin Status	Provincial Status	BC List (Red Blue List)	COSEWIC
Exotic	SNA	Exotic	Not Listed

BC Ministry of Environment: BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer, the authoritative source for conservation information in British Columbia.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Genetic information (NCBI Taxonomy Database)
International Plant Names Index
Taxonomic Information from the World Flora Online
Integrated Taxonomic Information System

Additional Range and Status Information Links

Burke Museum of Natural History (Washington State records)
CalFlora
Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria records
Jepson Interchange
NatureServe Explorer
USDA

Additional Photo Sources

UBC Herbarium Scanned Collection Record
Images From CalPhoto
UT Austin's Native Plant Database
Google Image Search
Flickr Image Search

General References

Google Scholar Search
Family References
General Botanical References for BC

Recommended citation: Author, Date. Page title. In Klinkenberg, Brian. (Editor) 2020. E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Plants of British Columbia [eflora.bc.ca]. Lab for Advanced Spatial Analysis, Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. [Accessed: 2024-05-14 9:14:44 AM ]

Disclaimer: The information contained in the E-Flora atlas pages is derived from expert sources as cited in each section. This information is scientifically based. E-Flora also acts as a portal to other sites via deep links. As always, users should refer to the original sources for complete information. E-Flora BC is not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of the original information.