Plants of South Eastern New South Wales

Viola banksii

Flower and leaves. Photographer Jackie Miles

Flowers and leaves. Photographer Jackie Miles

Carpet. Photographer Jackie Miles

Common name

Wild Violet

Family

Violaceae

Where found

Usually in moist areas. Rainforest fringes, coastal headlands, dune swales and coastal swamps. Coastal. Rarely elsewhere.

Notes

Perennial herb, stoloniferous. Flower stalks to 0.15 m long, longer than the leaves. Hairless to hairy. Leaves basal, forming rosettes, 1.2–3.5 cm long, 20–65 mm wide, round with a deep notch, hairless, margins toothed, tips rounded. Flowers with 5 petals, bright violet with prominent white tips, the bottom petal with a large green V-shaped blotch at the base, lateral petals widely spreading and strongly twisted. Petals 8–15 mm long. Flowers single. Flowers mostly Oct.–Feb. 

PlantNET description:  http://plantnet.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/NSWfl.pl?page=nswfl&lvl=sp&name=Viola~banksii (accessed 11 February, 2021)