Viola adunca, May 27, 2021
Common & scientific name
Blue violet & Alpine violet Viola adunca & V. adunca var. bellidifolia
Family
Violet, Violaceae
Location
Twin Lakes, 9,700’ & Linkins Lake, 12,000’
Fun, weird, helpful, or little known fact
As lovely as violets are, they do not rely on pollinators as their primary means of reproduction. Rather, certain of a violet plant’s flowers don’t develop pollinator-attracting attributes, never open, and stay underground or emerge only after their seeds mature into fruits. Such self-fertilizing flowers are “cleistogamous.”
Viola adunca var. bellidifolia or V. labradorica, Linkins Lake, June 16, 2021