Violets are Yellow … And White … And Blue. The Multicolored Wild Violets of New Hampshire

Not all violets are blue.  So what characteristics define a plant as a violet?

Members of the genus Viola have certain identifying properties of their flowers and leaves.  The flowers have five petals, with two pairs of fan-shaped petals pointing up and out, and one wider petal pointing downward.  The lower petal has “veins” in it which are a different color.  The leaves are usually heart-shaped and scalloped.  The plants typically have no stems or branches, and each leaf and flower stalk grows directly out of the ground.

Garden pansies are members of the genus Viola.  They are hybrids of at least three species of violet.  By contrast, the African violet (Saintpaulia sp.) is not a violet at all.  Despite some superficial similarities, it is in an entirely different order.

So, what about the wild true violets?

I know of about seven species of wild violets in New Hampshire, and two of them are not described in any book I’ve found.  The problem is that there are so many species of violets.  No field guide to wildflowers can dedicate enough space to cover so many species, so they only cover the most common ones.

The first wild violet of springtime is the eastern roundleaf yellow violet (Viola rotundifolia).  The best place I know to find them is along the Ripley Falls Trail in Crawford Notch State Park, just about 100-200 yards before the waterfall.  They bloom in late April and early May among the last of the melting snowbanks.

Next are the common blue violets (V. papilionacea) and nearly identical sister violets (V. sororia).  These both begin to bloom in lowland areas in the middle of May, and they continue blooming into October.  They grow in open areas which are partially shaded.  They can be seen in Mine Falls Park in Nashua, where they grow along the banks of the canal and beside most of the wider trails.  You can tell the two apart because sister violet has hairy stems and leaves.

The northern white violets (V. pallens) begin to bloom in southern New Hampshire about the end of May, and in the White Mountains a month later.  These plants grow right in streambeds.  They often grow between two rocks so that water flows over and around the roots, but the plant itself stands above the water.  The best place to see them is in Bemis Brook along the Bemis Brook and Arethusa Falls Trails in Crawford Notch.

There is another white violet which I can not identify.  It grows in the same environment as the northern white violet, and blooms at the same time in Crawford Notch (I’ve never seen it anywhere else), but it is quite a different plant.  It is tiny, with leaves barely bigger than a nickel on a plant less than three inches across.  The flower is only about a quarter of an inch wide.  The flower stem is more than six inches long, and hangs below the plant, but since it grows on rocky ledges, the stem does not trail along the ground.

Another violet I can not identify blooms in southern New Hampshire toward the end of May.  I have only seen it in a swampy area along the Beaver Brook Trail on Beaver Brook Association lands in Hollis, NH.  This is a very tall blue violet, nearly 18 inches tall, with large flowers and leaves.  I can’t find any description of a blue violet that grows so tall and that lives in swamps.

Also in the latter part of May, the dog violet (V. conpersa) blooms in southern New Hampshire.  They  have larger flowers of a paler violet color than those of the  common blue violet.  The best place I know to find them is along Elkins Road in the Beaver Brook Association lands in Hollis, NH.

Mid-June in Crawford Notch sees the bloom of the smooth yellow violet (V. pensylvanica).  They grow in well shaded wooded areas.  The best place I know to find them is in the Dry River Campground, where they grow very profusely in several campsites.

Whenever you head out into the woods, fields and streams, keep an eye out for wildflowers.  If you see that distinctive five-petal arrangement with contrasting veins in the lower petal, you’ve found a violet, no matter what color it is.

About the Author

Chuck Bonner is a lifelong hiker and amateur naturalist, and webmaster of www.HikingWithChuck.com.  You can see a more complete version of this article, illustrated with photos, at http://www.hikingwithchuck.com/Stories/VioletsAreYellow.htm.  For more of Chuck’s stories and insightful observations of nature, visit http://www.hikingwithchuck.com/Stories/StoriesIndex.htm

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