Finely puberulent throughout; stems several, at first upright, later prostrate and with cleistogamous fls, and terminating in a rosette that bears petaliferous fls the next year; lvs orbicular, 2-3 נ3-4 cm, blunt, cordate at base, often purplish beneath especially on the veins; stipules sparsely fimbriate-toothed; fls on long, slender peduncles arising from the basal rosette and later from the lower axils of the elongating stems; pet light violet with darker veins, the lateral ones bearded, the spur 3-4 mm; style slender, bent at the tip, or with a terminal cusp at right angles to the axis; frs 4-5 mm, ellipsoid-globose; seeds light brown; 2n=20. Dry or moist woods and ledges; s. O. to Va., s. to Fla., Ark., and Tex. Apr., May.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.