The violet that I identified as Smooth White Violet (Viola pallens) on April 20th may be either a variation of Sweet White Violet (Viola blanda) or Kidney-Leaved Violet (Viola renifolia).
Using the new botanical guide by Arthur Haines, Flora Novae Angliae: A Manual for the Identification of Native and Naturalized Higher Vascular Plants of New England, you can see the flow of steps used to identify this species of violet:
- Leaves and flower stems arising from rhizomes (underground stems) or stolons (horizontal stem creeping along the ground).
- Flower petals mostly purple, violet or white.
- Style (thin tube in the center of flower connecting the ovary) in a scoop-shaped or conical beak. The ovary is hairless.
- The spur (sticking out of the back of the flower) is 3.2mm long or less and less than 2 times long as it is wide.
- Flowers relatively smaller with white petals.
- Leaf blades 1.5 times as long (or less) as wide.
- Inner petals of the flower (Corolla) colored white.
- Leaf blades low-serrate.
- Leaf blades broad cordate (heart-shaped) and ovate (wider towards the top). Midrib 75-90% of total blade width.
- Upper flower petals not strongly reflexed (not strongly bent backwards). Lateral flower petals commonly hairy. Leaf blades broad to rounded at the tip. Leaf blade has a wide basal sinus. This indicates that the plant is: Viola blanda var. palustriformis.
