Plants of South Eastern New South Wales
Viola betonicifolia
Common name
Native violet, Showy Violet, Mountain Violet
Floodplain Violet (subsp. novaguineensis)
Family
Violaceae
Where found
Forest, woodland, grassy areas, alpine herbfields, and damp sites. Widespread.
Nearly all records in the area covered by this key are subsp. betonicifolia.
One record of subsp. novaguineensis from Kosciuszko National Park.
Notes
Perennial herb to 0.35 m high. Flowering stems hairless or slightly hairy. Leaves basal, 1–9 cm long, 5–70 mm wide, usually hairless, sometimes purplish on the underside, margins entire or shallowly scalloped, leaves with long stalks 1.5-30 cm long. Flowers violet to almost white, the petals sometimes golden at the base, with 5 petals each to 20 mm long, the lower petal with a short broad spur or pouch at the base, the lateral petals hairy within. Flowers single. Flowering: spring to summer.
PlantNET has no reference to the subspecies (accessed 3 May 2021)
VICFLORA description: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/143c48e9-0c19-451f-9380-94f113705493 (accessed 3 May 2021)
subsp. betonicifolia: Not rhizomatous. Leaves erect to spreading from the rootstock; leaf blades oval, 1–8 cm long, 5–25 mm wide, margins at least slightly convex, bases wedge-shaped to shallowly cordate; leaf stalks 2–15 cm long, narrowly winged in the upper third or not winged. Flower stalks usually longer than the leaves.
All native plants on unleased land in the ACT are protected.
VICFLORA description: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/aff56ca1-70ec-4f4f-8f65-fdeaa021bc88 (accessed 3 May 2021)
subsp. novaguineensis: Extensively rhizomatous, but the rosettes are often remote from each other. Leaves mostly stiffly erect; leaf blades elongate-triangular, 4–9 cm long, 10–70 mm wide, lateral margins straight or slightly concave, bases squared off, or often almost arrow head shaped; leaf stalks 5–30 cm long, prominently winged from near midway. Flower stalks mostly longer than the leaves, rarely to only half as long. Flowers on stalks shorter than the leaves are likely flowers that self-seed without opening, and tend to be produced toward the end of the flowering season.
Rare Vic.
VICFLORA description: https://vicflora.rbg.vic.gov.au/flora/taxon/73f83f1e-e40c-484a-a71b-8051ee327cc3 (accessed 3 May 2021)
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