kingdom Plantae - plants »  divisio Magnoliophyta - flowering plants »  class Rosopsida - eudicots » order Malpighiales »  family Violaceae »  tribus Violeae > genus Viola > Viola sect. Erpetion  (Sweet) Benth. & Hook f.  

Viola fuscoviolacea (L. G. Adams) T. A. James

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Synonyms: Viola hederacea subsp. fuscoviolacea L. G. Adams 

Distributional Range: Native Australasia AUSTRALIA: Australia [Tasmania, New South Wales, Victoria] 

Description: Stoloniferous perennial herb. Leaves tufted; lamina broadly ovate to ovate-rhombic, 5–7 mm long, 4–9 mm wide, base cuneate (or rarely almost truncate), tapering to petiole, apex obtuse, margins scalloped to coarsely toothed; petioles narrowly winged, 1–2.5 cm long; stipules free, linear-lanceolate, 1–5 mm long, laciniate. Flower-scapes 2–25 mm long, shorter than or just exceeding leaves, bracteoles below middle. Sepals lanceolate, 1.5–2 mm long, acute, basal appendages small; petals 2–3 mm long, blackish-violet (rarely paler), lower (anterior) petal obovate-elliptic, c. 2 mm wide, without spur; lateral petals entire, bearded. Capsule ovoid, 4–7 mm long. Flowers mostly Dec.–Jan. (Sep.–Nov. in lowlands). 

Habitat: Grows in damp alpine herbfields of the alps (e.g. Buffalo Plateau, Bogong High Plains, Mt Wellington, Snowy Mtns , Nunniong Plateau) with isolated occurrences in near-coastal Lepidosperma longitudinale sedgeland between Wilsons Promontory and Sale.

References:

1. Entwisle, T.J. (1996). Viola. In: Walsh, N.G.; Entwisle, T.J. (eds), Flora of Victoria Vol. 3, Dicotyledons Winteraceae to Myrtaceae. Inkata Press, Melbourne. 

2. James, T. A. 1996. New combination in Viola (Violaceae). Muelleria 9:35.