Wednesday, May 2, 2012

One More Violet


Here's one more violet that's blooming now, called Lance-leaved Violet (Viola lanceolata) because of the long narrow shape of its leaves.  I didn't include it in my violet survey yesterday because I didn't have time to make my way to the only place I know that it grows, one little spot along the shore of the Hudson River at Moreau.  That spot is about dead center in the photo below, right at the water's edge beneath that White Birch trunk.


This is a violet that loves damp places, even tolerating complete inundation at times, such as what happens along this stretch of the Hudson, with the rising and lowering of water levels several times a day,  as the dams close or release.   But these violets sure couldn't tolerate the flooding that occurred last spring, when I couldn't find them at all, with the roaring river so high.  I was happy to see that they hadn't been completely washed away, but were nicely in bloom today at their regular site.

Another flower nicely in bloom today was Highbush Blueberry, its white ruffly bells on rosy pedicels nodding right over the spot where the violets grow.


2 comments:

Caroline said...

You found lance-leaved violets in the Adirondacks, I found lanceleaf bluebells on the prairie, interesting.

Jacqueline Donnelly said...

Oh, Caroline, thank you for stopping by to tell us about your lanceleaf bluebells. They are absolutely lovely, as are the other prairie species you showed us on your blog. My readers can see them, too, by clicking on your name and going to your blog.