Midwestern Population Studies of Viola papilionacea Pursh

Since about 1900 nearly every taxonomist concerned with the violets nas referred to Viola papilionacea Pursh as the common blue violet . Generally speaking, the blue violets of towns and cities especially have been referred to this species. In the major herbaria, the folders containing specimens labeled Viola papilionacea are frequently much larger than those for any other species of the genus. Its habitat has been reported to be near dwellings , roadsides , dooryards , and common in moist fields . Its range is reported to be Mass. to Minn., s. to Ga. and Okla. , and it has been reported from other places well outside this area. Fernald, for example, reports it as occurring from centr. Me. and s. Que. to N.D. and Wyo., s. beyond our limits. Popular writers, when they list scientific names at all, usually choose V. papilionacea for their blue violet illustration