White Wood Violet

Viola sororia albiflora

According to some, this is the white variant of the Common Blue Violet (V. sororia sororia). (Others consider it a separate species entirely, along with the variants pictured below.)  Leaves, on long stems sprouting from the rhizome/root, are heart-shaped with a serrated edge.  The leaves may be slightly fuzzy. Flowers, on separate stalks coming from the rhizome, are white with rather indistinct lines in the throat of the flower, which appears yellowish.  As with the Common Blue Violet, the outer pair of the lower three petals have a small white "beard" at the base of the petals.  

This violet seems to hybridize with the Common Blue Violet to form various intermediate forms combining blue and white, or a more uniform or mottled pale blue (the so-called "Confederate Violet," V. sororia priceana), but the relationship among these different violets is still debated by taxonomists. Images below depict a few variants found in Jackson Park.

6 inches, partial sun-partial shade.  

Spring (March-June).

19 April 2021.

White Wood Violet, 8 May 2020.

15 April 2021.

15 April 2020.

"Confederate" Violet?

20 April 2021.