Viola Glabella

Day 176: Viola glabella. Now there's a contradiction of terms! Translated from their Latin origins, the two parts of the name mean "yellow" and "violet" as in the colours, but then the Romans never made it to the Pacific Northwest where the majority of our "violets" are indeed yellow. One assumes those in Italy at the time were of a pale purple hue. But you've heard me rant on this subject before. Instead, let's just enjoy this sunny little harbinger of spring whose yellow faces we find smiling in the moist, shady nooks of our forests and gardens, cheerful even in the rain.

The Logic Of Names

Day 183: This isn't another rant about taxonomists. Their business is scientific nomenclature, not common names. Common names can be derived in a number of different ways including popular usage, translation of taxonomy or attribution by an "authority" in the field. Hence, we have some rather peculiar epithets applied to species, often at odds with what one might expect. For example, "Douglas Fir" is not a true fir, and relatively recently, the preferred spelling of the common name has changed to include a hyphen ("Douglas-fir") in an attempt to prevent confusion. Not all species are as lucky, case in point many of the violets which populate our forests. Somewhere in the dim annals of time, the name "violet" must have been appropriately ascribed to a little purple flower, else why would "violet" have arisen as a logical option? Later, the term was applied to other flowers having common characteristics with other Violas, if not their colour. Just think, if Viola glabella had been the first-named of its family, we'd now be talking about it as a Crocus ("yellow") instead.

Earth Day

Day 191: Happy Earth Day, and it could hardly be more typically "Pacific Northwest" than what's blustering outside my windows at the moment. The wind has already begun and rain is to follow; I'll be marching for science despite the weather. After all, little fellers like these Stream Violets (Viola glabella) need someone to stand up for them. It's not just about polar bears and shrinking glaciers, the big things which make the news. There are thousands...yes, I said thousands...of species of plants, animals, insects, etc. which are on the verge of extinction. Certainly it can be argued that extinction is part of the natural process and I will not debate that, but for it to occur over such a wide range of species in so short a period of time indicates that there is more going on than can be laid to natural order. Whether the process can be slowed is debatable, but we can take steps to keep it from accelerating. The choice rests with us: do we want our children's children to choke and starve on a sick and dying world, or do we want to sacrifice a few creature-comforts so that our own species can survive?

Viola Glabella, Stream Violet

Day 156: There I was, down on my hands and knees in the wet moss and mud, magnifier in hand, imagining Pack Forest ticks marching up my pantlegs, and my hike had just begun. Violas are tricky little buggers when it comes to their identities, and I still get them wrong more often than I care to admit. Leaf shape is helpful, although there is a lot of variation. Veining is great if they show it, but if it is absent in a young specimen, you have to consider that it may develop later. Likewise, the presence of a spur on the back of the flower can be conclusive, but its absence leaves room for doubt. In my experience (such as it is), the most reliable field characteristic is bearding. Like irises, some violets have beards (tiny ones) on their petals. That's why I was carrying the magnifier. That's why I was down on my knees, getting soppy wet and paranoid about ticks. When I found little fuzzy-wuzzy beards on the two side petals (barely visible in this photo), I said to myself, "Glabella. I'm 90% sure it's glabella." But I reserve the right to be wrong.

Identifying Mount Rainier's Violets

Day 196: I thought I'd share with you a little piece of interpretive material I put together yesterday. Enjoy!

"Oh, I know that one. It's a violet." Ah, but Mount Rainier National Park hosts quite a number of different species of Violas and they can be very difficult to tell apart unless you know what identifying features separate them.

First of all is COLOR. Contrary to the name, many of our violets are actually yellow, but we have pale purple ones as well. The next identifying feature to check is leaf shape. Does it look like a heart? Is it round or pointed? The leaf margin (edge) will tell you a lot. Is it smooth or serrated? Or is it deeply incised and composed of separate leaflets? Once you've determined these things, narrowing down an identification gets a little stickier.

For the sake of this discussion, I plucked a specimen of Viola glabella (Stream Violet) from my own yard so that we could examine some of the finer points of separation. All of these observations can be made without picking a flower (which, of course, is not allowed in the Park!). It is helpful to carry a small magnifier with you for closer examination.

Some of our Violas have fine, dark lines on one or more of their petals. Some have petals which are pointed rather than rounded. Some have tiny little furry "beards" similar to those found on iris falls (you'll have to put that magnifier to work to observe them). Some have a structure called a "spur" on the reverse side of the lower petal. This spur may take the form of a pouch-like sac or a slender "tail" like you would see on a domestic Nasturtium, but much smaller. All of these points help us determine the true identity of those little yellow faces smiling up at us from the streambanks and beside the trails.