XViola nuttallii - Yellow VioletX
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Yellow Violet -or- Johnny JumpUp -or- Wild Pansy (Viola nuttallii), family Violaceae (Violet)
Other common names are Nuttall's violet (after the famous botanist Thomas Nuttall) -or- Yellow prairie violet. By the way... Al Schneider, creator of Southwest Colorado Wildflowers, has detailed biographical information on famous botanists on his excellent website. Read about Thomas Nuttall on his site here. Weber and Wittmann list 16 species present in Colorado, in the genus Viola, in Colorado Flora Eastern Slope. There are about 400-500 total species in the genus worldwide. At least as recently as 2001 nuttallii is the most common yellow violet in Colorado. It IS lovely, and unusual. It is one of the few violet species with lanceolate (long and narrow, but broadest at the base) leaves. See this characteristic in the foliage frame of this panel. This species is a perennial herb (it dies back then returns in the spring from it's root-stock rather than from seeds). The plants are native to the Western and North-Central United States, as well as Western Canada.
USES: Many species of violets are valued for culinary purposes as food or as decorative additions to deserts or salads. There are a number of recorded uses by Native Americans of non-specific species of violets: Costanoan - Plant juice used as a salve and poultice of boiled plants applied to sores. Iroquois - Poultice of smashed plants applied to wounds. Infusion of roots used as a wash for eyes. Compound decoction of roots taken as a panacea. Infusion of roots taken by mother and baby when baby gets sick. Thompson - Juice used in dogs' noses to clear out the nostrils and enable them to track deer better. Cherokee - Leaves cooked with other potherbs and eaten. Omaha - Violets used by children in playing games.
See the other members of genus Viola on this site: labradorica & canadensis.
Flower -
Plant location: Bitterbrush Trail, a hike near Lyons Colorado, was the site where these violets were scattered about in small bunches here and there. Very cheery! May 12, 2009. Common they may be in Colorado, but not in the U.S. overall. They are found only in these states: CO, ID, KS, MN, MT, ND, NE, NM, SD, WY. They are classified as threatened in Minnesota. This species is a plains to montane dweller. Habitats include meadows, open slopes, often blooming in the protection of rocks at 5,000 to 11,500 feet elevation. The rocky 'cradle' in our plant view shot is the most typical of locations when we have seen this species. Plant -
Bloom period: April to July, and sometimes as late as September. Note the unusual characteristic of the nuttallii species foliage. It is one of the few violet species with lanceolate (long and narrow, but broadest at the base) leaves.Foliage -
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