Violets are cool. They are mostly easy to identify by their shape, but there are a lot of different kinds, some common, some not so much. You've probably seen several different kinds yourself, but maybe didn't realize it.
Today was different too. I had hoped to hike with Nimblewill Nomad, as he hiked through some of the section our chapter maintains. So I was really pretty sure where he was going to be. I parked at a trailhead at 7:30 this morning and hiked toward where he was planning to camp last night thinking that I'd meet with him, and then walk back with him as far as my car. But he has gotten off his plan somehow, and I never saw him. Result... I hiked 11 miles before 11:30 am. Maggie was tired. Heck, I was tired!
But I did see these two violets. The one above is Bird-foot Violet (Viola pedata). See the leaves for the reason for the name. The flower is very large, sometimes 2" across. It grows in dry places.
The one below is Lance-leaved Violet (Viola incognita). It was growing right in the water! I really wasn't sure which white violet it was till I studied the picture harder and found the leaves with a bud.
Neither one of these is really rare, but they aren't the ones you see in your yard! But I'll bet if you start looking you'll notice 3 or 4 different kinds over the course of a season.
 | See Meeting Nimblewill Nomad See Northern Wildflowers for the Great Spurred Violet |
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4 comments:
I'll start looking for some of these. I've been trying to learn how to identify flowers a little bit more.
There's 2 violets I'm not sure I've seen. I may have but never got past seeing the flower and actually looking at the leaves.
Ratty! I'm sure you'll find some. Violets of some kind grow nearly everywhere in NA.
WiseAcre- To have found flowers you may not have seen must be quite a feat! I feel quite full of pride (she says while tripping over her feat)
Our wild violets are sooo long gone. Nice to see yours though!
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