Common Blue Violet.Viola palmata, var. cucullata.Meadow Violet.
Found in meadows and roadsides, among the grass everywhere, in May and June.
The leaf and flower stems vary in height from 3 to 6 or 7 inches.
The large heart-shaped leaf (1 or 2 inches wide at the base) is strongly ribbed, minutely hairy, and cut in rounded scallops along its margin; full green in color. The stem is half-round, and grooved on its flat side.
The 5 petals and the spur of the flower are variable in color from dark to light (rarely white), from blue- to red-violet; the bearded side-petals and the lower petal are white at the base. The flower-stem is long, slender and smooth.
“The flower-stems are the length of the leaf-stems usually, or a little shorter, and the blossoms appear in the midst of the rich green foliage. In the new growths the lower edges of the leaves at the base are rolled inwards.
“This violet was taken from N. America to England in 1762, and in some English botanies is calledV. obliqua.”—Sir D. Wooster.