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

Viola pseudaetolica Tomović, Melov 

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Synon.: V. saxatilis [subsp. aetolica] var. pseudolutea Hayek, Akad.; “V. lutea” sensu Roh; “V. alpestris subsp. aetolica” sensu W. Becker; “V. saxatilis subsp. aetolica” sensu Hayek; “V. aetolica” sensu Diklić,

Description: Usually short-lived perennial (rarely annual or biennial), (10)15–30(40) cm height, little- to muchbranched from base. Shoots 3–15(25) cm long, erect to ascending, sparsely puberulent to densely pubescent, green. Lower leaves with longer petioles than those from middle and upper; blade ovate to orbicular, obtuse or rounded, coarsely crenate, glabrescent or shortly pubescent along the veins and margin and sometimes on surface. Stipules of lower leaves small, oblong to oblong-spathulate, entire or pinnately divided, with 1–2 lateral segments on the both sides. Middle and upper leaves with shorter petioles; blade oblong-ovate to lanceolate or oblanceolate, about 1.5 times longer than stipules, gradually attenuated at the base into the petiole, obtuse or acute, crenate, glabrescent or shortly pubescent along the veins and margins and sometimes on surface. Stipules of middle and upper leaves pinnately divided; glabrescent or shortly pubescent, the undivided terminal part relative large, with 1–3 lateral segments on the inner and 2–7 on the outer side, tapering gradually downwards. Peduncles (4)7–13.5 cm, glabrous or puberulent; bracts in upper third of peduncle. Flowers medium size 1.8–2.5 × 1–2.2 cm, bright yellow; lower surface of petals often becoming blue-violet at the end of flowering period. Calyx: upper sepals (6.4)8.6–9.9(12) × (2.3)3.1–4.2(5.2) mm; lateral (7.4)9.5–11(13) × (2.1)2.8–3.5(4.7) mm; lower (8.8)10.8–12.5(14.5) × (2.7)3.4–4.6(5.4) mm. Sepals ovatelanceolate to ovate, acute, rarely obtuse, attenuate at base, puberulent to pubescent on back, sometimes becoming glabrous in fruit, ciliate at margin; margin with 1–3 conspicuous teeth on both sides, rarely entire. Appendages c. 1/4 as long as sepals, narrow to wide rectangular, trapezoid or semiorbicular, attenuate at base, coarsely dentate. Corolla: upper petals (10.2)12.3–14.3(16.1) × (8.3)10.3–12.4(15.7) mm, obovate to orbiculate; lateral (10.3)12.3–13.9(15.7) × (6.1)7.9–9.7(11) mm, ovate to irregularly ovate, papillose-hairy at the upper margins; lower without spur (10)11.4– 12.7(13.9) × (9.4)11.5–13(14.4) mm slightly triangular to cordate. Spur glabrous, straight to slightly curved upwards, greenish-yellow to greenish-violet, (6.7)7.5–8.5(9.8) × (1.7)1.9–2.1(2.4) mm; ratio of length/width: 3.8–4.3. Seeds ellipsoid, pale to dark brown. Flowering period: May–July.

Distributional Range: Native Europe SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Republic of Serbia: western parts of the Republic of Macedonia (Mt Bistra, Mt Dešat and Mt Jablanica), southern Serbia (Mt Koritnik, Mt Paštrik, Mt Mokra Gora and Mts Prokletije), northern Albania (Mt Mali e Đalices, Mt Mali e Shebenikut, Mt Maja e Nermajn, Mt Maja e Cukalit, Mt Maja e Maranajt and Gryka e Liqenit), Montenegro (Mt Rumija, Mt Lovćen, Mt Orjen and Mts Prokletije) and the southeastern parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina (surrounding of Trebinje)

Habitats: ecology:—V. pseudaetolica grows at the elevation from (870–)1000 to 2000(–2400) m. on carbonate or silicate geological substrates. It inhabits mountainous and high-mountainous pastures and rocky grounds of the vegetation classes Daphno–Festucetea, Festuco–Seslerietea and Juncetea trifidi. It can also be found in scree vegetation of the classis Drypetea spinosae and rarely at the edges of pine forests (Pinus heldreichii or P. peuce) or scrub vegetation of Pinus mugo or Juniperus sibirica

Notes: Discussion:—Already Rohlena (1904, as V. lutea Huds.) indirectly noticed that plants from one locality in Montenegro (Mt Balj in vicinity of Andrijevica) differ from V. aetolica in having denticulate sepals. This observation was supported by Hayek (1924) who, besides this character, pointed out that specimens of this taxon resembles to large individuals of V. lutea subsp. sudetica. However, according to the same author, the latter subspecies had not been found in the Balkan Peninsula. On the basis of these characters, Hayek described a new variety, V. saxatilis [subsp. aetolica] var. pseudolutea Hayek (1924: 134), from the locality Mt Maja e Maranajt north from Skodra lake

References:

1. GORDANA TOMOVIĆ1, MARJAN NIKETIĆ, MAJA LAZAREVIĆ & LJUPČO MELOVSKI  (2016)  Taxonomic reassessment of Viola aetolica and Viola elegantula (V. sect. Melanium, Violaceae), with descriptions of two new species from the Balkan Peninsula Phytotaxa 253 (4): 237–265