''Viola palustris'' (marsh violet, or alpine marsh violet) is a

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

forb A forb or phorb is a herbaceous flowering plant that is not a graminoid (grass, sedge, or rush). The term is used in botany and in vegetation ecology especially in relation to grasslands and understory. Typically, these are eudicots without woo ...

of the genus ''

Viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

''. It inhabits moist meadows, marshes, and stream banks in northern parts of

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

. The species

epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...

''palustris'' is Latin for "of the marsh" and indicates its common habitat.Archibald William Smith

Description

''Viola palustris'' is a 5 to 22 cm, glabrous herb with

petiole Petiole may refer to: *Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem *Petiole (insect anatomy) In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and ...

s and peduncles from slender

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

s. The cordate to reniform leaves are 2.5 to 3.5 cm wide with coarse, shallow, blunt teeth. Petioles are 2 to 17 cm. The white to lilac flowers are 10 to 13 mm long. Peduncles are about the same length as petioles. The lower three petals have purple lines. The lateral pair are lightly bearded. It is used as the foodplant for the pearl-bordered fritillary and the small pearl-bordered fritillary. It is a known host for the

pathogenic fungi Pathogenic fungi are fungi that cause disease in humans or other organisms. Although fungi are eukaryotic, many pathogenic fungi are microorganisms. Approximately 300 fungi are known to be pathogenic to humans; their study is called "medical mycolo ...

'' Hendersonia violae'' and '' Puccinia fergussonii''.Helgi Hallgrímsson & Guðríður Gyða Eyjólfsdóttir (2004)
''Íslenskt sveppatal I - smásveppir'' [Checklist of Icelandic Fungi I - Microfungi
Fjölrit Náttúrufræðistofnunar. Náttúrufræðistofnun Íslands [Icelandic Institute of Natural History]. ISSN 1027-832X

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment
palustris Flora of Europe Flora of Finland Flora of Russia Flora of California Flora of Oregon Flora of the West Coast of the United States Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Violaceae-stub