Viola odorata ?;
Viola odorata L. ?? : 6 posts by 3 authors. Attachments (1)
Sharing some pictures In guess is Viola odorata L.
shot at Godawari Botanical Garden, Nepal on 8 March, 2013 at 5000 ft.
You did not say if you thought this was being cultivated in the botanical garden?
This species has not been recorded from Nepal but the ‘Enumeration of the Flowering Plants of Nepal’ focussed on wild species.
14 Violas have been recorded for Nepal. Viola odorata was planted in gardens in the Punjab and in Hill Stations in the foothills of the NW Himalaya and apparently naturalised in parts of Hazara, Pakistan. Whether it is suited to Godawari’s climate, I do not know. The ‘Sweet Violet’ (you did not mention any scent) is found in the UK, Europe, Asia Minor, Caucasus, Syria, N.Africa, Macronesia – even what was Palestine.
Violas are not always easy to identify, so close-ups of the floral parts both corollas and sepals (incl. appendages) plus views of the foliage are important.
I am not familiar enough with the genus to comment on the likelihood of the plant belonging to V.odorata based upon just one general image. Perhaps others are?
Yes, very difficult to correctly I’d them even with full details. Actually, it is from my old collection and I was very raw in photography at that time .Hence, all my pictures till 2014 is incomplete.
This pic from wild not cultivated.
By the way it is listed in Nepal as per the link below:
http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=110&taxon_id=134607
Thanks for providing the link below which provides an up-to-date checklist of Nepal flora from the ‘Annotated Checklist of the Flowering Plants of Nepal’.
However, the Enumeration of the Flowering Plants of Nepal though almost 50 years out-of-date, provides useful information on approx. where in Nepal each species known at that time had been recorded from and altitudinal range.
Checklists have their limitations especially if cultivated plants are included. Concentrating as I do, on plants from higher elevations, it is helpful when considering possibilities as to species within a genus, to eliminate those from lower altitudes.
In the 1990s I worked briefly as a consultant to ‘The Royal Government of Bhutan’ on ‘The Cultivation of Medicinal Plants for Traditional Medicine Project’. I was designated as a ‘High Altitude Agronomist’ (still not entirely sure what this means but I was the nearest thing that could be found) – there was also a ‘Low Altitude Agronomist’!
Part of the reason as to my preference for ‘higher’ altitudes is that I do not function well in hot temperatures much preferring the cool air of mountains. I positively like rain. Much like the ‘Britishers’ a century or two ago who repaired to their hill stations……
Thanks, …, for the interesting information. |