BOTANY WITH BASICS OF HYDROBOTANY (AQUATIC PLANTS OF UKRAINE) - B.Ye. Yakubenko - 2011

X. SEED PLANTS

Family Violaceae (Violet Family)

Mostly herbaceous plants, though tropical and subtropical regions also feature shrubs and small trees. Leaves are alternate, more rarely opposite, and typically stipulate.

Flowers are bisexual, actinomorphic or zygomorphic, with a 5-merous calyx and five free petals; five stamens alternate with the petals. The pistil is formed by three (or two to five) fully connate carpels; the Ovary is superior and unilocular with numerous parietal ovules, and the style is single with stigmas of various structures. Floral formula: *↑K₅C₅A₅G_(2-5). The fruit is a capsule or a berry.

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Fig. 122 Marsh violet (Viola palustris)

The family unites 29 genera and about 900 species widely distributed worldwide, particularly in tropical and subtropical zones. In the flora of Ukraine, this family is represented only by species of its largest genus, Violet (Viola), which comprises 450 species. These are small herbaceous plants, although shrubby forms occur in the Western Mediterranean and North America. There are 41 species of this genus known in Ukraine.

Bog violet (Viola uliginosa Bess.). A perennial herbaceous plant, 5-25 cm tall; helophyte, entomophile, autochore, myrmecochore.

Leaves are petiolate (petioles up to 15 mm long); leaf blades are cordate-ovate, serrate-dentate along the margin, and glabrous. Stipules are fused with each other and with the petiole for nearly half their length, ovate to ovate-lanceolate. Flowers are solitary, large, 20-30 cm in diameter, odorless. Petals are violet. Blooms in April-May. Propagates by seeds.

Grows in bogs and waterlogged habitats. Distributed in Polissya, occasionally in Transcarpathia and the Left-Bank Forest-Steppe. An ornamental plant.

Marsh violet (Viola palustris L.). A perennial herbaceous plant, 5-15 cm tall; helophyte, entomophile, autochore, myrmecochore (Fig. 122). Leaves are reniform, glabrous, shiny, gathered in a basal rosette; stipules are ovate. Flowers are solitary, 8-12 cm in diameter. Petals are pale violet-purple. Spur up to 1 mm long. Blooms in April-June. The fruit is a capsule. Propagates by seeds and rhizomes.

Grows in bogs, peaty meadows, and waterlogged forests. Distributed in the Carpathians, Polissya, the Forest-Steppe, and occasionally in the Steppe zone.