kingdom Plantae - plants »  divisio Magnoliophyta - flowering plants »  class Rosopsida - eudicots » order Malpighiales »  family Violaceae »  tribus Violeae > genus Viola > Viola sect. Plagiostigma Godr.  > Viola subsect. Adnatae W. Becker 

Viola betonicifolia Sm.

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Synon.: Viola betonicifolia subsp. dielsiana W. Becker; V. betonicifolia subsp. nepalensis (Gingins) W. Becker;V. caespitosa D. Don; V. inconspicua Blume subsp. dielsiana W. Becker; V. oblongosagittata Nakai var. violascens Nakai; V. patrinii Gingins var. caespitosa (D. Don) Ridley; V. patrinii var. laotiana H. Boissieu; V. patrinii var. nepaulensis Gingins. 

Common Name: 戟叶堇菜 ji ye jin cai 

Description: Herbs perennial, acaulescent. Rhizome obliquely ascending or erect, usually short, 5-10 mm, stout, with several robust, long, yellowish roots. Leaves numerous, basal, rosulate; stipules dark brownish, lanceolate, 3-5 × ca. 1 mm, ca. 3/4 adnate to petiole, free part linear-lanceolate or subulate, margin entire or sparsely denticulate, apex acuminate; petiole long, 1.5-13 cm, narrowly and conspicuously winged in upper part, usually glabrous, sometimes puberulous in lower part; leaf blade narrowly lanceolate, narrowly triangular-hastate, or triangular-ovate, 2-7.5 × 0.5-3 cm, base truncate or shallowly cordate, sometimes broadly cuneate, apex acute, sometimes slightly obtuse; leaves accrescent after anthesis, both surfaces glabrous or subglabrous, lateral lobes spreading and conspicuously dentate, margin remotely shallowly crenate, more deeply dentate near base. Flowers white, light or deep purplish, deep-colored striate, 1.4-1.7 cm; pedicels long, equaling or exceeding leaves, slender, usually glabrous, sometimes puberulous in lower part, 2-bracteolate near middle; bracteoles linear. Sepals ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, 5-6 × 1-1.6 mm, apex acuminate or ± acute, basal auricles shorter, 0.5-1 mm, 3-veined, margin narrowly membranous, apex rounded, sometimes remotely obtusely dentate. Upper petals obovate, 1-1.2 cm, bearded; lateral ones oblong-obovate, bearded, 1-1.2 cm; anterior one usually shorter, 1.3-1.5 cm (spur included); spur tubular, short, 1-2.5 mm, stout, 2-3 mm in diam., apex rounded, straight or slightly curved upward; anthers and appendage of connectives ca. 2 mm; spur of 2 anterior stamens 1-3 mm. Ovary ovoid-globose, ca. 2 mm, glabrous; styles clavate, slightly geniculate forward, gradually thickened in upper part; stigmas slightly thickened and narrowly margined on lateral sides and abaxially, shortly beaked in front, with a stigma hole at tip of beak. Capsule ellipsoid to oblong, 6-9 mm, glabrous. Seed ovoid, 1-1.2 mm. Fl. Feb-May, fr. May-Sep. 2n = 24*, 48, 72*. 

Distributional Range:  

• Native 

• Asia-Temperate 

  • WESTERN ASIA: Afghanistan

  • CHINA: China [Zhejiang Sheng, Fujian Sheng, Henan Sheng, Hunan Sheng, Hubei Sheng, Gansu Sheng, Jiangxi Sheng, Jiangsu Sheng, Guangdong Sheng, Shaanxi Sheng, Sichuan Sheng, Yunnan Sheng, Xizang Zizhiqu]

  • EASTERN ASIA: Japan, [Honshu, Kyushu, Ryukyu Islands, Shikoku] Korea, Taiwan

• Asia-Tropical 

  • INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, [Sikkim, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh] Nepal,Pakistan, Sri Lanka

  • PAPUASIA: New Guinea

  • INDO-CHINA: Myanmar

  • MALESIA: Indonesia, [Sulawesi, Jawa (e.), Lesser Sunda Islands, Sumatera] Philippines

• Australasia 

  • AUSTRALIA: Australia

Habitat: Fields, roadsides, grasslands on mountain slopes, thickets, forest margins; below 1500(-2500) m.  

References:

1. Chinese Academy of Sciences. 1959-. Flora reipublicae popularis sinicae.

2. Editorial Committee of the Flora of Taiwan. 1993-. Flora of Taiwan, ed. 2.

3. George, A. S., ed. 1980-. Flora of Australia.

4. Grierson, A. J. C. & D. J. Long. 1984-. Flora of Bhutan including a record of plants from Sikkim.

5. Hara, H. et al. 1978-1982. An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal.

6. Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970-. Flora of [West] Pakistan.

7. Polunin, O. & A. Stainton. 1984. Flowers of the Himalaya

8. Rechinger, K. H., ed. 1963-. Flora iranica.

9. Sharma, B. D. et al., eds. 1993-. Flora of India.

10. Steenis, C. G. G. J. van, ed. 1948-. Flora malesiana.

11. Wang, J. C. & T. C. Huang. 1990. Notes on the flora of Taiwan (9) the Viola L. (Violaceae). Taiwania 35:24.