Prairie or crowfoot or larkspur violet, violette pédatifide Prairie or crowfoot or larkspur violet, violette pédatifide

Viola delphiniifolia Nuttall; V. palmata Linnaeus var. pedatifida (G. Don) Cronquist

Plants perennial, acaulescent, not stoloniferous, 5–30 cm; rhizome thick, fleshy. Leaves basal, 2–11, ascending to erect, 5–9-lobed; stipules linear-lanceolate, margins entire, apex acute; petiole 3–16 cm, pubescent; blade similar in width and shape, lobes lanceolate, spatulate, falcate, or linear, 1–7 × 2–8 cm, base truncate to reniform, margins entire, ciliate, apex acute to obtuse, mucronulate, surfaces pubescent, hairs sometimes concentrated on veins. Peduncles 5–18 cm, glabrous or pubescent. Flowers: sepals lanceolate to ovate, margins ciliate or eciliate, auricles 1–2 mm; petals light to soft reddish violet on both surfaces, lower 3 white basally, dark violet-veined, lateral 2 and lowest usually bearded, lowest 10–25 mm, spur same color as petals, gibbous, 2–3 mm; style head beardless; cleistogamous flowers on ascending to erect peduncles. Capsules ellipsoid, 10–15 mm, glabrous. Seeds beige, mottled to bronze, 1.5–2.5 mm. 2n = 54.

Flowering Mar–Jun. Prairies, grasslands, disturbed ground, dry gravelly hills; 500–1000 m; Alta., Man., Ont., Sask.; Ariz., Ark., Colo., Ill., Ind., Iowa, Kans., Mich., Minn., Mo., Mont., Nebr., N.Mex., N.Dak., Ohio, Okla., S.Dak., Va., Wis., Wyo.

Viola pedatifida was reported historically from, and recently rediscovered in, the Appalachian shale barrens of Virginia (T. Wieboldt, pers. comm.).

Viola pedatifida reportedly hybridizes with V. sororia (= V. ×bernardii Greene).