Question: This plant spontaneously appeared last year. I’ve never actually caught it in bloom but the seedheads and habitat look like …
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Question
This plant spontaneously appeared last year. I’ve never actually caught it in bloom but the seedheads and habitat look like viola hastata, even though we are north of it’s typical range? Is it worth keeping or is it a weed? Location Scarborough, Maine in sandy soil, partial sun.
Answer
Dear Fpolygala, good morning. This looks like a hybrid with Viola sagittate (arrowhead violet). This leaf morphology is very typical of hybrids between this species and those with a more cordate leaf blade, such as Viola sororia, Viola cucullata, and similar species. The elongated blade shape comes from Viola sagittate, and the deeper than usual cordate base is from the others. I would not be able to tell you which other species was involved with a specimen or additional photographs, but hopefully this will be helpful.
