VIOLACEAE VIOLET FAMILY 
DOWNY YELLOW VIOLET 
Viola pubescens Ait. 
We have two common Yellow Violets, both of which 
occur in woods or thickets, and both of which belong to 
the group with leafy stems. In both the petals are yellow 
with large purple 
veins, and the seeds 
are light brown and 
relatively large, being 
nearly one-sixteenth 
of an inch long. 
The Downy Yellow 
Violet is found in rich 
dry woods from southern 
Maine and Ontario to 
Maryland and Kansas. It often has 
only 1 stem, as shown, which bears 
2-4 leaves near the top. The basal 
leaf shown may not be produced. 
Stem and leaves are covered with 
soft downy hairs. 
The Smooth Yellow Violet, Viola 
scabriuscula Schwein., usually has 2-4 
stems and 1-3 basal leaves. The stems 
are shorter and more leafy than in the 
downy species, the leaves are smaller, 
and stems and leaves are nearly or 
entirely without hairs. The yellow 
flowers are produced usually in May, 
but later in the summer flowers with- 
out petals occur. These never open and 
are self-pollinated. When the fruits 
are ripe they dry and finally burst open 
with such suddenness that the seeds 
are hurled out, often several inches. 
The Arrow-leaved Violet, Viola sagittata Ait., has intensely blue 
flowers on long peduncles coming from the vertical underground 
stem. The leaves are oblong and somewhat heart shaped at the 
base, where they expand into 1-3 spreading lobes that look like 
barbs and contribute to the common name. 
Of all her train, the hands of Spring 
First plant thee in the watery mould, 
And I have seen thee blossoming 
Beside the snowbank’s edges cold. 
The Yellow Violet—-WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT 
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