EVERGREEN

Plant Encyclopedia

Viola raddeana

Viola raddeana ("Tachisumire")

Japanese name: タチスミレ (立菫)
Scientific name: Viola raddeana

Viola raddeana

[Overview]
A perennial 30–50 cm tall, sometimes reaching 1 m, found in reed beds in low-lying wetlands and in riverside forests.
It has a short rhizome.
Two or three aerial stems stand upright.
The leaves are of two kinds, basal leaves and leaves arranged alternately on the stem; a few basal leaves appear, and they have often withered by flowering time.
The leaves are triangular-lanceolate, 4–8 cm long, with low wavy teeth on the margin, and are hairless on both sides.
The petiole is 2–5 cm long and hairless.
The stipules are lanceolate, 3–6 cm long, toothed, and look like stem leaves.
The flowers are borne at the tips of flower stalks rising upright from the leaf axils; they are white to pale purple, about 1 cm across, with purple streaks in the center of the lip petal.
The bases of the lateral petals are hairy, and behind the flower is a thick, short spur 1–2 mm long.
The fruit is a capsule that splits into 3 when ripe and scatters the seeds.

Details

Names
Japanese: タチスミレ(立菫)、チョウセンタチスミレ(朝鮮立菫)
Life form
Perennial
Habit
Terrestrial
Flowering season
May, June
Distribution or origin
Japan (Honshu: Kanto region; Kyushu: Oita, Kagoshima), Korea, northeastern China, Russian Far East
Height
300–1000 mm
Leaf shape
Simple leaf (unlobed)
Leaf arrangement
Alternate, Basal
Leaf margin
Serrate
Inflorescence
Solitary
Number of petals
5
Flower color
White, Purple
Flower diameter
10
Leaf color
Green
Relationship with animals
Seeds have a white appendage (elaiosome) made of a substance ants like, and are dispersed by being carried by ants to their nests.
Designated plants
VU: Vulnerable (Class II)

Translated from our Japanese encyclopedia. If anything differs, the Japanese page is correct.

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