This blue beauty has extra ecological significance in that it is a host plant to some of the Pacific Northwest endangered butterfly larvae!
Viola adunca
Early Blue Violet
Description:
Pale to deep violet flowers with a white patch, purple veins at the base of lower 3 petals.
The veins on on the pedals are visible to bees in the ultraviolet as guides to nectar.
This dainty flower is a larval host plant to numerous endangered butterflies in the Pacific Northwest and is often used in butterfly habitat restoration projects.
The seeds of this plant are explosively thrown a distance when pods burst open!
Adunca means "hooked." and the flower is also known as the ‘hooked-spur violet’.
Rarity: Common
Flowering Time: Mid Spring
Life Cycle: Perennial
Height: stemless to 4 inches
Habitat: Meadow, Coastal, Subalpine, Moist Riverbanks
Found In: Olympic Np, Mt. Rainier Np, N Cascades Np
Native: Yes
Source: Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest
Additional Resource: Oregon Flora Project