| Author | L. | |
| Distribution | Throughout the Mountains; ranges east into a few western Piedmont sites, such as the Sauratown Mountains (Stokes), and disjunctly to Lincoln County.
This is a Northern and Western species, ranging from Canada south to northwestern SC and AL. The species occurs in most of the VA Piedmont, but there are oddly very few collections from well eastward in the NC Piedmont. | |
| Abundance | Frequent to common in the Mountains; scarce eastward into the western Piedmont. | |
| Habitat | This species strongly favors rich hardwood forests, being a characteristic species of Rich Cove Forests. It is found in other moist to rich montane forests as well. RAB's (1968) habitats of "Rocky woods and open bluffs" is odd and not correct, or at least is misleading. | |
| Phenology | Blooms from April to July, and fruits shortly after flowering. | |
| Identification | This is one of the most robust and tallest of our violets, often reaching 12-15 inches tall. It is one of only two caulescent (leafy along the flowering stalks), white- or cream-flowered violets in NC. It has both basal leaves and scattered stem leaves, each with heart-shaped blades and the basal with petioles up to 4 inches long. The scattered flowers are white with a yellow center and some purple lines in the throat and purplish tinge on the back of the petals; each is rather large and about 1-inch across. The only similar species is V. striata, which has cream-colored to white flowers, no yellow on the base of the petals, nor any purple on the back of the petals. Also, it has very large, leafy stipules at the base of each stem leaf. V. canadensis is a favorite spring wildflower of our cove forests, seen in many or most suitable rich coves, often in large stands that block the ground. | |
| Taxonomic Comments | Weakley (2018) notes several varieties for the species, with the nominate one -- var. canadensis -- being the only one found in NC. He states that the var. rugulosa, as mentioned in RAB (1968), is misapplied to plants in NC.
General note on Viola: In 2009-10 B.A. Sorrie (website map editor) went through the whole collection at NCU, annotating all specimens against those verified by experts in the genus. The range maps in RAB (1968) have been changed accordingly. More recently, Harvey Ballard and colleagues are in the process of revising all Eastern and Southeastern Viola, and have annotated all specimens at NCU in July 2024. They recognize additional species not in RAB or in previous editions of Weakley et al.; we will follow updated editions of Weakley et al. in recognizing them. Species range maps have been adjusted to account for identification changes. | |
| Other Common Name(s) | Tall White Violet, Canadian White Violet | |
| State Rank | S4 | |
| Global Rank | G5 | |
| State Status | | |
| US Status | | |
| USACE-agcp | FAC link |
| USACE-emp | FAC link |
