Monday, March 3, 2014

stream violet ~ 03/03/14 ~ Purisima Creek

Violaceae

Violaceae

If Ken hadn't pointed out the subtle differences in leaf shape, I would not have known there were 2 different violet spp. here.  I often make the mistake of assuming look-alikes in the same location are, in fact, the same.  Nope.  I believe I got the above sorted correctly with the stream violet having the pointier leaf shape and the redwood violet being more rounded.  Right, Ken?  I find it interesting how the leaves handle water.  Those droplets on the leaf margins are intriguing.

ps 03/10/14 - Per my comments below, I wonder if the "pointy" lower petal of the stream violet, similarly shaped to the leaves, can be considered diagnostic.  Ken has a stunning redwood violet photo in bloom.

5 comments:

Jeannette said...

I have white and purple violets running around wither they will in the garden. I'll have to check their leaves and their lineage.

randomtruth said...

Whew. As the day lengthened and we didn't see any sempervirens in bloom, I was uncertain of that earlier leaf ID. Glad to see I actually got it right. Too bad the redwood violets weren't in bloom. To me they kinda have the steam violets beat in subtle attractiveness, even though both are yellow.

Katie (Nature ID) said...

Um... so, you're not sure, Ken? Do you think I have it correct above? I'm fairly certain CalPhotos for each spp. is a mixed bag and needs to be reviewed. Your redwood violet photo is gorgeous. I wonder if "pointy" can also be applied to the lower lip of the stream violet flower as a diagnostic characteristic?

Jeannette, looking forward to seeing some photos.

John W. Wall said...

You need to explain the physics of why the droplets form on the edges like that. :)

Katie (Nature ID) said...

John, are you making fun of me? I'm actually not very interested in the physics, but I'd like to know purpose.