Violets of Missouri

Tiny titans contribute to spring’s emerging color palette and pollinator survival

Most people easily recognize blooming violets, with their unique and easily distinguishable flower setting them apart from other common flowering plants. With flowers typically 1 inch across and with two petals pointing up and three pointing down, these short-statured plants rarely grow more than 6 inches tall. Like dandelions, most violets do not have a true stem — the leaves grow directly from the ground sending up one stalk for each flower. With a few exceptions, most violet species in Missouri flower between March and May.

Violets in the Wild

Some violet species grow abundantly in yards and open areas along with other plants broadly considered weeds like henbit, dead nettle, and dandelion. Other violet species are found only in high-quality natural areas. Several species of native violets grow wild in Missouri and fill important roles for wildlife.

Violets play an important role for pollinators. In Missouri, violets are a host plant for most species in a group of butterflies known as fritillaries. Like the dependency of monarch butterflies on milkweeds, the larvae of these fritillaries must feed upon violets in the spring, or they will not survive.

Some pollinators are very specific to a type of habitat and host plant. If the habitat and host plant become rare, so does the pollinator, as seen with the regal fritillary. Fragmentation and loss of prairie habitat due to grassland conversion has limited the availability of tallgrass prairie nectar resources and violets, and likely contributed to regal fritillary declines. The species has become so rare that it is proposed for the endangered species list.

Violets in Common Places

Many of Missouri’s violet species are found in common, everyday places like yards, garden edges, or even cracks in the sidewalk. One of these violets is known as Johnny-jump-up (Viola bicolor). An easy way to tell this species from the others is by the leaves. Johnny-jump-up has a blue flower with small leaf-like structures that are deeply lobed. The appearance of these structures on a blue violet found in common habitats is an easy way to identify this species. 

While Johnny-jump-up is a native species, there are two exotic species that escape from cultivation and appear very similar to Johnny-jump-up. The leaves of wild pansy (Viola arvensis) and miniature pansy (Viola tricolor) look very similar except they have yellow and purple petals instead of blue. 

The other violet species that are found in common places are not as easy to distinguish from each other. Missouri violet (Viola missouriensis) and common violet (Viola sororia) can only be distinguished from each other by looking at the leaf shape. Missouri violet leaves are distinctly longer than wide, while the common violet leaves are wider than they are long. Other less common violet species found in the same habitats can easily be confused with Missouri violet and common violet. A good wildflower field guide or social network source, like iNaturalist, are good resources to use when trying to decipher between similar looking species.

Violets in Natural Areas

Three violets that come with deeply lobed leaves are cleft violet (Viola palmata), bird’s foot violet (Viola pedata), and prairie violet (Viola pedatifida). 

The lobes of cleft violet are much wider than the other two species and it can be found in wooded habitats as well as open places. 

Bird’s foot violet and prairie violet are more restricted to open places, such as grasslands and glades. The two species are so similar that they are difficult to distinguish from each other. 

Prairie violet is more restricted to native prairie remnants while bird’s foot violet can thrive in more disturbed areas. It may be for this reason that bird’s foot violet has become more popular in the native landscaping industry.

Violets in Rare Habitats

Other species are highly specific to habitats now considered rare in Missouri. Like prairie violet, arrow-leaved violet (Viola sagitatta) is largely restricted to prairie remnants. The shape of the base of the leaf is shaped like an arrowhead, which is where the species gets its common name. 

Marsh violet (Viola cucullata) is found in the Ozark Region in cool wet places like spring branches, stream edges, and fens. Sand violet (Viola affinis) is primarily found in swamps and bottomland forests of the Missouri Bootheel Region. While sand violet is common in states to the east, the only known populations in Missouri are in a few southeastern counties.

Violets of a Different Color

Perhaps the violet species that stand out the most are those with flowers that are not a violet color. There are only a few. Yellow violet (Viola pubescens) is found throughout Missouri, mostly in shaded habitats, and is distinguished by its yellow flower. 

Pale violet (Viola striata) has a white flower and is restricted to wet areas like bottomland forests, stream banks, and ditches. Both species also have a true stem. Unlike many other violets, these have leaves growing from the base of the plant and on the stem.

Two other violets with white flowers that are rarely seen in Missouri are lance-leaved violet (Viola lanceolata) and smooth white violet (Viola pallens). Lance-leaved violet is found in the Ozarks in wet places like fens, marshes, and wet swales. It is easily distinguished by its white flower and narrow leaves. Smooth white violet is an extremely rare find in Missouri. It is more common to the north and northwest but has only been found in Missouri on a few sheltered sandstone bluff ledges in Ste. Genevieve County.

Whether common or rare, garden variety or habitat specific, violet or some other color, Missouri’s many varieties of violets add to spring’s emerging color palette. 

Recognizing the unique species takes some attention to detail. Even though the leaves usually persist throughout much of the growing season, the eye-catching flowers will usually be gone by June. Once their floral display is complete, violets often go unnoticed by humans but continue to play a vital role in our ecosystem by supporting the next generation of pollinators. ▲

State Botanist Malissa Briggler began her full-time MDC career as a grassland botanist in 2007. She and her husband, State Herpetologist Jeff Briggler, live in Callaway County with their three children.