Americanized Field Violet Gardens Need Not Be Seedy and Weedy

Summary: Americanized field violet gardens do not have to be seedy, weedy invasions of edible and ornamental plots and of strawberry and winter wheat fields.

closeup of field violet's flower; bridleway west of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, East of England; Monday, May 6, 2013, 13:53:26: Peter O'Connor aka anemoneprojectors, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Farmers, gardeners and nurserymen allude to aggressive seeding against edible and ornamental plants, especially strawberry and winter wheat, even though no North American country applies weed designations to American field violet gardens.

Federal, provincial, state and territorial legislation generally bases official weed status upon blaming species for bringing down crop yields, eco-system well-being, human health and species diversity. They consider natives and non-natives seedy weeds even though Eurasia's English or sweet violet and Europe's field violet and Johnny-jump-up thus far collect no such designations. The common names European field pansy, field pansy, heartsease and wild pansy discourage weed sanctions against field violet, literal translation of the scientific name Viola arvensis.

Exasperation eclipses enjoyment of introduced culinary, medicinal and ornamental roles in kitchen gardens when 250 seedlings emerge per 10.76 square feet (square meter) of pre-allotted space.

Blunt-tipped, oval to square, 0.12- to 0.19-inch- (3- to 5-millimeter-) long, 0.12- to 0.16-inch- (3- to 4-millimeter-) wide cotyledons function as embryonic leaves during seedling stages.

Mature field violets give off somewhat upward to straight up-and-down growth habits because of partial shade, partial sun tolerances and wintergreen scents from crushed fibrous roots. Mature members of the Violaceae family of herbaceous violets have semi-upward to straight up-and-down, 3.94- to 13.78-inch- (10- to 35-centimeter-) tall stems with hairy branch angles. The alternate-arranged, oblong to lance-shaped, 0.79- to 3.15-inch- (2- to 8-centimeter-) long, 0.39- to 0.59-inch- (1- to 1.5-centimeter-) wide upper foliage includes margins with rounded teeth.

The bases of the upper foliage in Americanized field violet gardens juggle leaflike membraneous structures called stipules and divided into five to nine distinct, narrow segments.

Rounded to oblong, 0.39- to 0.59-inch- (1- to 1.5-centimeter-) long, 0.28- to 0.47-inch- (7- to 12-millimeter-) wide basal leaves keep their margins toothed and stipules small.

Basal foliar clusters called rosettes link basal leaves on alternate-arranged, 0.39- to 0.79-inch- (1- to 2-centimeter-) long stalks and look up into sparse-haired, veined foliar undersides. Axil unions of stalked leaves with stems maintain mauve- or purple-marked, pale yellow to white, solitary flowers on 0.79- to 1.58-inch- (2- to 4-centimeter-) long stalks. The lateral and the lower of the irregular, perfect flower's petals respectively need to be bearded and, to 0.08- to 0.16-inch (2- to 4-millimeter) lengths, spurred.

Field violets, whose bloom times occur from April to October in Americanized field violet gardens, offer one pistil, five petals, five stamens and five united sepals.

Biology produces 2,500 seeds per field violet and propels 75-seeded, spherical, tan-colored, 0.19- to 0.39-inch- (5- to 10-millimeter-) long capsules over 6.89-foot (2.1-meter) distances upon maturity.

Temperatures between 41 and 59 degrees Fahrenheit (5 and 15 degrees Celsius) at 0.19- to 0.39-inch- (5- to 10-millimeter-) depths quicken germination of field violet seeds. Glossy, oval to kidney-shaped, yellow- to black-brown, 0.04- to 0.08-inch- (1- to 2-millimeter-) long field violet seeds remain viable for six to 11 years in soil. Viable seeds from 400-year-old excavations suggest truculently survivalist life cycles for field violets, described by Stockholm-born Swedish botanist Johan Andreas Murray (Jan. 27, 1740-May 22, 1791).

Americanized field violet gardens in semi-shaded containers, indoors and outdoors, sometimes trick English or sweet violets, field violets and Johnny-jump-ups into targeting lower seed production levels.

flower and leaves of field violet (Viola arvensis), also known as field pansy; Hockenheimer Rheinbogen natural area, Hockenheim, northwestern Baden-Württemberg state, southwestern Germany; Tuesday, June 2, 2015, 15:52: AnRo0002, Public Domain (CCO 1.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

closeup of field violet's flower; bridleway west of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, East of England; Monday, May 6, 2013, 13:53:26: Peter O'Connor aka anemoneprojectors, CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/anemoneprojectors/8731447790/

flower and leaves of field violet (Viola arvensis), also known as field pansy; Hockenheimer Rheinbogen natural area, Hockenheim, northwestern Baden-Württemberg state, southwestern Germany; June 2, 2015, 15:52: AnRo0002, Public Domain (CCO 1.0), via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20150602Viola_arvensis1.jpg

For further information:

Dickinson, Richard; and Royer, France. 2014. Weeds of North America. Chicago IL; London, England: The University of Chicago Press.

Murray, Johan Andreas. 1770. "Viola arvensis." Page 73. Prodomvs Designationis Stirpivm Gottingensivm. Gottinga (Göttingen), Germany: J.C. Dieterich.
Available via Internet Archive @ https://archive.org/stream/prodromusdesigna00murr#page/73/mode/1up

"Viola arvensis Murray." Tropicos® > Name Search.
Available @ http://www.tropicos.org/Name/33800006

Weakley, Alan S.; Ludwig, J. Christopher; and Townsend, John F. 2012. Flora of Virginia. Edited by Bland Crowder. Fort Worth TX: BRIT Press, Botanical Research Institute of Texas.