''Viola nuttallii'' (Nuttall's violet or yellow prairie violet) is a

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

herbaceous plant in the violet family (''

Violaceae Violaceae is a family of flowering plants established in 1802, consisting of about 1000 species in about 25 genera. It takes its name from the genus ''Viola'', the violets and pansies. Older classifications such as the Cronquist system placed t ...

''), and is one of the few violet species with

lanceolate The following is a list of terms which are used to describe leaf morphology in the description and taxonomy of plants. Leaves may be simple (a single leaf blade or lamina) or compound (with several leaflets). The edge of the leaf may be regular ...

leaves. It is native to the western

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and the north-central and western United States, appearing in upper steppe lands, forests, and alpine ridges. The genus name ''Viola'' means violet in Latin. For Nuttall's violet the only purple coloring is the nectar guides in the throat of the flower. The species name is given in honor of noted botanist

Thomas Nuttall Thomas Nuttall (5 January 1786 – 10 September 1859) was an English botanist and zoologist who lived and worked in America from 1808 until 1841. Nuttall was born in the village of Long Preston, near Settle in the West Riding of Yorkshire and ...

. The plant is highly variable, usually with bright yellow petals. The veined, elliptical leaves are long. The species serves as a larval host for the Coronis fritillary butterfly. The leaves and flowers of the plant are edible as well as high in vitamins A and C. However, the rhizomes, fruits, and seeds are high in saponins and should not be eaten.

References

nuttallii Flora of Western Canada Flora of the Northwestern United States Flora of the North-Central United States Flora of the Southwestern United States Flora of New Mexico Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Violaceae-stub