vkingdom Plantae - plants »  divisio Magnoliophyta - flowering plants »  class Rosopsida - eudicots » order Malpighiales »  family Violaceae »  tribus Violeae > genus Viola > Viola sect. Chamaemelanium Ging.  > Viola subsect. Canadenses W. Becker

Viola frank-smithii N. Holmgren - Frank-smith's Violet

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Distributional Range: Native Northern America SOUTHWESTERN U.S.A.: United States [Utah]

Distribution and ecology —Frank Smith’s violet occurs as perennial, clustered plants growing in the crevices of vertical rock walls, the older plants having a persistent mass of dead leaves hanging beneath from the growth of previous years. Glabrous plants arise from a short rhizome, the stems, petioles and peduncles spreading or declining from the vertical rock face; older plants growing to 10 cm, their stems 1.5-6.5 cm long at flowering. Its leaves are heart-shaped and turn golden-yellow in autumn. 

A few populations of V. frank-smithii are on limestone but the majority of occurrences are on dolomite, between 1525 and 2075 m (5,000 and 6,800 ft) elevation. Most locations are cool, northerly exposures that remain shaded for at least part of the day. Dense stands of Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) also shade the plants, similar to the habitat of V. guadalupensis, with Acer grandidentatum and A. glabrum as understory on surrounding Canyon slopes. V. frank-smithii occupies the barest of crevices without any noticeable soil accumulations, but plants do not grow in the soil at the base of the rock-face. This violet is endemic to the Wasatch-Cache National Forest, Logan Canyon and its tributaries, in Cache County of northeastern Utah. There are about a dozen known locations with an estimated total population size of approximately ten thousand plants. This is one of three new violet species discovered in North America between 1980 and 1990, all of which grow in limestone or dolomite in the presence of conifers, either Douglas Firs or Bristlecone pines. Although this species is not quite as rare as the two other newly discovered violets V. guadalupensis and V. lithion, V. frank-smithii is an endangered species occurring only in a very limited habitat. 

The epithet honors Frank J. Smith, a modern-day naturalist and discoverer of this remarkable species. Frank has an exceptional eye for the unexpected and unusual and has discovered numerous other novelties. He discovered the violet while scouring rock outcrops for new populations of Erigeron cronquistii Maguire and Musineon lineare (Rydb.) Mathias. 

References:

1. Holmgren, N. H. 1992. Two new species of Viola (Violaceae from the intermountain west, USA. Brittonia 44:303.

2. Welsh, S. L. et al. 1993. A Utah flora.