Sighting: Viola pallens at Dedham, MA

by Steph Radner on May 9 2016

Location notes: Dedham Town Forest (between northbound and southbound lanes of route 128, just north of route 1A)

Comments: I found a nice patch of what I think is Viola pallens growing in a beautiful, surprisingly relatively unspoiled wetlands environment just yards away from the interstate. There were no hairs on leaves, leaf stalks or flower stalks. I measured leaf midrib to width ratio for several leaves and came up with about 0.90, probably ruling out Viola renifolia. Photos show flowers, leaves, and habitat with large patches growing along with sphagnum moss.