Viola pedata
The Bird's Foot Violet
V.pedata var. pedata
V.pedata var. lineariloba
photos by W. H. Duncan
courtesy of UGA Herbarium
web page constructed by
Melissa Bugbee
July 12, 1998
Link to
genus Viola
Link to V.
sagittata
Contents:
Scientific and Common Names:
The common names of Viola pedata include
bird's foot violet, crowfoot violet, and pansy violet (Stupka,
1965). "Pansy violet" refers to the less common variety of V.
pedata, which has two-colored flowers which resemble pansy flowers.
The names "bird's foot" and "crowfoot" violet point to a distinguishing
feature of the entire species, the multi-segmented leaves with fingerlike
projections.
Higher Taxa:
The classification of V. pedata is as follows
(Zomlefer, 1994):
Class Angiospermae
Subclass Dicotyledonae
Superorder Violanae
Order Violales
Family Violaceae
Genus Viola
Species pedata
Identification:
V. pedata is often considered one of the most attractive violets.
It has large flowers with large orange stamens and multi-segmented, palmate
leaves (see drawing by M. Bugbee). Two varieties of V.pedata,
var. pedata and var. lineariloba can be distinguished
by their flowers. Var. pedata's two upper petals are a darker
purple than it's three lower petals. The petals of var. lineariloba
are all light purple (Linn,
p.18). See the photographs at the top of the
page to see examples of each variety.
McKinney (p.17) describes
V. pedata as an
"acaulescent herb from fleshy rhizomes, foliage ascending
to erect. Leaf blades homophyllous, generally reniform in outline
although occcassionally narrowly elliptic to ovate, cleft, parted, or divided
into seven spatulate, lanceolate to almost linear segments with occasional
small, narrowly triangular to falcate appendages occurring toward apices,
apices acute to mucronulate, base reniform to cuneate; pubescence primarily
strigose, trichomes infrequently occurring along veins of lower lamina
surface, margins ciliate to eciliate, surfaces occasionally glabrous.
Chasmogamous peduncles ascending to erect; petals flattened and pansy-like
with protruding stamens, uniformly light to dark blue-violet or with upper
petals darker, petals not bearded; sepals lanceolate, acute, margins generally
ciliate, auricles less than one-half as long as sepals; capsules ellipsoid;
seeds beige and mottled to brown; cleistogamy absent."
Radford, Ahles, and Bell lay out a key for distinguishing
between the Viola species in Guide to the Vascular
Flora of the Carolinas. The original description and
specimen of V. pedata are unknown, but McKinney
gives a list of representative specimens from states in which the species
occurs.
Geography and Distribution:
Viola pedata occurs throughout the eastern
United States. Var. pedata ranges from Pennsylvania
to North Carolina, and var. lineariloba ranges from Massachusetts
to Florida and westward to Minnesota, Kansas, and Texas (Linn
p.18). The information in the following chart does not distinguish
between the two varieties.
Viola pedata
|
Area
|
Status
|
References
|
North America:
Continental United States; Canada |
Yes |
McKinney, 1992 |
Eastern North America:
U.S. east of Mississippi; Ontario and eastern Canada |
Yes |
McKinney, 1992 |
Southeastern United States:
AL, AR, DE, DC, FL, GA, KY, MD, NC,SC, TN,VA, WV |
Yes
(not FL) |
McKinney, 1992 |
Southern Appalachian States:
AL, GA, KY, MD, NC, SC, TN, VA,WV |
Yes |
McKinney, 1992 |
| Coastal Plain |
Yes |
Duncan & Kartesz, 1981 |
| Piedmont |
Yes |
Duncan & Kartesz, 1981 |
| Blue Ridge Mountains |
Yes |
Duncan & Kartesz, 1981 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park |
Yes |
Stupka, 1965 |
| Ridge and Valley |
Yes |
Duncan & Kartesz, 1981 |
| Cumberland Plateau |
Yes |
Duncan & Kartesz, 1981 |
| Central Arch |
Yes |
McKinney, 1992 |
| Georgia |
Yes |
Jones & Coile |
| Clarke County, Georgia |
Yes |
Jones & Coile |
| Sam's Farm |
not observed,
but possible |
Melissa Bugbee, pers. obs. |
| Old Field |
No |
Melissa Bugbee, pers. obs. |
| Wetland |
? |
|
| Woods |
not observed,
but possible |
Melissa Bugbee, pers. obs. |
| 1-Hectare
Plot |
not observed,
but possible |
Melissa Bugbee, pers. obs. |
|
|
|
The green area in the
map below shows the range of V. pedata in the United States.
The information used to construct this map was found in McKinney,
1992 and in Jones & Coile.
Natural History:
V. pedata, as are many of the violets, is
subject to hybridization with other sympatric members of the genus.
This violet differs from the other violets known as acaulescent blue violets
by its lack of cleistogamous flowers, making it impossible for this species
to self-pollinate (McKinney, p. 17). In fact,
this is the only species of violet in North America that does not self-pollinate
(Burn, p.62).
Where to Find V. pedata:
Unlike many violets, V. pedata does not usually
grow in heavily wooded areas. Instead it prefers "dry, sandy, rocky,
or clayey banks and open woods" (Grimm,
p. 173). Because of this, these violets can often
be found on a hillside or on a roadside. Blossoms are present mostly
between March and June.
References:
-
Burn, Barbara. North American Wildflowers.
Bonanza Books: New York, 1984. ISBN 0-517-447401
-
Coon, Nelson. The Complete Book of Violets.
A.S. Barnes and Company, Inc.: New York, 1977. ISBN 0-498-02110-6
-
Dean, Blanche. Wildflowers of Alabama and Adjoining States.
University of Alabama Press: University, Alabama, 1973. ISBN 0-8173-0147-X
-
Duncan, Wilbur H. and John T. Kartesz.
Vascular Flora of Georgia: An Annotated Checklist. The University
of Georgia Press: Athens, GA, 1981. ISBN 0-8203-0538-3
-
Grimm, William Carey. Recognizing Flowering Wild
Plants. Stackpole Books: Harrisburg, PN, 1968.
-
Jones, Samuel B. , Jr., and Nancy Coile. The
Distribution of the Vascular Flora of Georgia. Department of
Botany: University of Georgia.
-
Linn, Louis. Eastern North America's Wild Flowers.
Sunrise Books: New York, 1978. ISBN 0-87690-262-X
-
McKinney, Landon E. A Taxonomic Revision
of the Acaulescent Blue Violets (Viola) of North America. Botanical
Research Institute of Texas, Inc: Fort Worth, Texas, 1992. ISBN 0883-1475
-
Radford, Albert, Harry Ahles and C. Ritchie Bell.
Guide to the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. University of
North Carolina Book Exchange: Chapel Hill, NC, 1964.
-
Stupka, Arthur. Wildflowers in Color.
Harper and Row Publishers: New York, 1965.
-
Zomlefer, Wendy B. Guide to Flowering Plant
Families. University of North Carolina Press: Chapel Hill, NC,
1994.
Links:
-
For more information about V. pedata's status in Canada, click here.
-
To visit the Time Life web page on violets, click here.
Go Back To . . .
Melissa Bugbee
University of Georgia
Athens, GA
email: mbugbee@arches.uga.edu