kingdom Plantae - plants »  divisio Magnoliophyta - flowering plants »  class Rosopsida - eudicots » order Malpighiales »  family Violaceae »  tribus Violeae > genus Viola > Viola sect. Melanium  Ging. 

Viola balcanica Delip.

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Description: Perennial herbaceous plant. Rhizome branched. Stems 2-10, raised or erect, often branched from the base, 20-45 cm high, covered with short, sparse, whitish bristly hairs, rarely glabrous or densely bristly, at base with thin, pale green, above-ground, 5 -8 cm long shoots with small petals. Leaves bluntly serrated with 3-8 teeth on the sides, bristly fibrous, rarely glabrous; Lower rounded ovate to oblong ovate, blunt, base rounded to shallow heart-shaped, 10-20 mm. long, 8-17 mm. wide, with equal, rarely longer than the petal lobes; medium ovate to oblong ovate, rounded at the base, bluntly pointed at the apex, 20-30 mm. long, 10-20 mm. wide, double-handled petioles; upper ovate ovate or triangular ovate, 17-26 mm. long, 8-16 mm. wide, tapered, at the base rounded or at one time clinically narrowed, 2-3 times shorter. Deciduous ovate, broadly ovate to triangular, densely bristly; on the lower leaves twice shorter to equal to the leaf petioles, short leaflets dissected into 5-8 lobes; lateral lobes linearly lanceolate, equal or twice as long as the undivided portion, median lanceolate or spatulate; middle and upper leaves serrated; teeth 4-5 outer and 3-4 inner, pointed, rarely blunt, triangularly ovate or triangular, up to 1 / 4– 1/2 half the width of the deciduous, medium slightly larger, ovoid or elliptic, entire, rarely obscurely dentate , dull or pointed. Color handles 6-12 cm long, glabrous, with bracts below the bend. Colors back trapezoidal, 2.0-3.5 cm high, 1.4-2.6 cm wide, odorless. Sepals linearly lanceolate, pointed, with appendages 8-15 mm. long, 2.0-2.5 mm. broad, glabrous, rarely bristly fibrous, with a naked or fringed margin; appendages rectangular or trapezoidal, often serrated, 2.5-4.0 mm. long. Petals light violet to pink violet; upper cuneiform ovate, asymmetrical, 16-22 mm. long, 6-14 mm. wide, pointing up and sideways; lateral ovate, 11-16 mm. long, 6-10 mm. wide, pointed sideways and upwards, up to 1/2 overlap the upper ones, at the base with the cilia, with three dark purple veins, the lower back ovate, paler, almost pink, rarely white, with a spur of 20-25 mm. long, 15-18 mm. wide, with 5-7 dark purple veins, at the base orange, narrowed at 3-5 mm. long grooved, ciliated nail on top and 5-7 mm. long, violet, thin, saddle, rarely straight, 1.5-2 times longer than the calyx appendage of the spur. Ovary naked; the stalk of the knee bent from the base, extended upwards; the lioness entire, spherical, with a lip protruding forward and bundles of hairs below it. Fruit handle upright. Box ovate, 8-10 mm. long, 6-7 mm. broad, yellowish, appendage short. Col. VI-IX, Pl. VII-X 

Distributional Range:Native Europe SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Bulgaria

Habitat: On grassy places and near coniferous shrubs, above the upper border of the forest. Western and Central Balkan Mountains, from 1400 to 2000 m above sea level. 

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