''Viola palustris'' (marsh violet, or alpine marsh 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 ...

forb A forb or phorb is an herbaceous flowering plant that is not a graminoid (grass, sedge, or rush). The term is used in biology and in vegetation ecology, especially in relation to grasslands and understory. Typically these are dicots without woo ...

of the genus ''

Viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

''. It inhabits moist meadows, marshes, and stream banks in northern parts of North America and

Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...

. The species epithet ''palustris'' is Latin for "of the marsh" and indicates its common habitat.Archibald William Smith

Description

''Viola palustris'' is a 5 to 22 cm, glabrous herb with petioles and peduncles from slender rhizomes. The cordate to reniform leaves are 2.5 to 3.5 cm wide with coarse, shallow, blunt teeth. Petioles are 2 to 17 cm. The white to lilac flowers are 10 to 13 mm long. Peduncles are about the same length as petioles. The lower three petals have purple lines. The lateral pair are lightly bearded. It is used as the foodplant for the

pearl-bordered fritillary The pearl-bordered fritillary (''Boloria euphrosyne'') is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae found in Europe and through Russia across the Palearctic to the north of Kazakhstan. Description The adult butterfly is orange with black spots on ...

and the

small pearl-bordered fritillary ''Boloria selene'', known in Europe as the small pearl-bordered fritillary and in North America as the silver-bordered fritillary, is a species of butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found across Europe, Asia and North America, and feeds ...

. It is a known host for the

pathogenic fungi Pathogenic fungi are fungi that cause disease in humans or other organisms. Approximately 300 fungi are known to be pathogenic to humans. Markedly more fungi are known to be pathogenic to plant life than those of the animal kingdom. The study of ...

Hendersonia violae Hendersonia may refer to: * ''Hendersonia'' (fungus), a genus of fungi in the family Phaeosphaeriaceae * ''Hendersonia'' (gastropod), a genus of gastropods in the family Helicinidae Helicinidae is a family of small tropical land snails which ha ...

'' and '' Puccinia fergussonii''.Helgi Hallgrímsson & Guðríður Gyða Eyjólfsdóttir (2004)
''Íslenskt sveppatal I - smásveppir'' [Checklist of Icelandic Fungi I - Microfungi
Fjölrit Náttúrufræðistofnunar. Náttúrufræðistofnun Íslands [Icelandic Institute of Natural History]. ISSN 1027-832X

References

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment
palustris Flora of Europe Flora of Finland Flora of Russia Flora of California Flora of Oregon Flora of the West Coast of the United States Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Violaceae-stub