Viola walteri House - Prostrate Blue Violet
Family - Violaceae
Stems:
Leaves:
Stipule.
Inflorescence:
N/A
Flowers:
Flowering - March - May.
Habitat - Dry hammocks, rocky woods, rich woods.
Origin - Native to North America.
Other information - This small species can be found mainly in central Alabama. The plant can be identified by its trailing stems, rounded leaves, fimbriate stipules, and blue flowers. The stems root at the nodes and Radford mentions that the plant perhaps represents a transition between the caulescent and acaulescent violets. This is one of the earlier violets to bloom.
The genus name Viola is the classical Latin name for the Violets.
The species epithet walteri is given in honor of Thomas Walter (~1745-1800). Walter was born in Hampshire, England and moved to the United States as an adult. He owned a plantation in South Carolina and studied plants as a hobby. In 1788 he published his "Flora Caroliniana."
Alabama Distribution:
Photographs taken at Bibb County Glades, AL., 3-5-05.