Viola Labradorica (Dog Violet)

Plant Info

Also known as:	American Dog Violet, Alpine Violet, Labrador Violet
Genus:	Viola
Family:	Violaceae (Violet)
Life cycle:	perennial
Origin:	native
Habitat:	full sun to shade; woods, meadows, along streams
Bloom season:	spring
Plant height:	1 to 8 inches
USDA PLANTS database:	Minnesota county distribution map

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Detailed Information

Flower:

Flowers are a typical 5-petaled violet shape, ½ to ¾ inch long, pale lavender to light blue fading to white at the base of the petals. The lower petal has dark purple lines and the 2 side petals each have a tuft of white hair (a “beard”) at the base of the petals. There is a long spur at the back of the lower petal that curves up behind the flower. Each flower is at the end of a long naked stem that arises from a leaf axil; each plant has a few to several flowers on branching or multiple stems. A plant can start blooming when it is less than 1 inch tall.

Leaves and stem:

There are both basal leaves and stem leaves. Both are mostly round or kidney to heart shaped with scalloped edges, averaging about 1 inch across. Leaf color is light green to yellowish green but may be purplish on the underside. On the main stem where the leaf and flower stems join is a toothed leaf-like appendage (stipule). Leaves and stem are hairless.

Notes:

There are somewhere around 10 species of blue to purple violets that grow in Minnesota. Two distinguishing features in identifying them are whether the flowers and leaves come from the same stem, and whether the side petals are bearded. Both are true for Dog Violet. An alternate scientific name for Dog Violet is Viola conspersa.

More photos

• a patch of Dog Violets
• more flowers, showing the spur

Photos taken at Wild River State Park, Center City, MN May 2008

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