Français
Donate
Donner

Fact Sheets

FICHES DE
RENSEIGNEMENTS

Back To Index
print

Viola arvensis Murray

Overview
General Information
ID Info
Similar Species
Need ID Help?
Aperçu
Renseignements Généraux
Informations D'identification
Espèces Semblables
Besoin d'aide pour l'identification?

Family :

Famille :

Violaceae

Synonym(s) :

Synonyme(s) :

Viola tricolor subsp. arvensis (Murray) Syme (USDA-ARS 2024)

Common Name(s) :

Nom(s) commun(s) :

Field violet

(English) (Darbyshire 2003; CABI 2024)

Violette des champs (French) (Darbyshire 2003; CABI 2024)

Pansée des champs (French) (USDA-ARS 2024)

Field pansy (English) (Darbyshire 2003; CABI 2024)

Trinitaria (Spanish) (CABI 2024)

Amor-perfeito-bravo (Portuguese) (CABI 2024)

Field violet (Viola arvensis) seeds

  • Field violet (Viola arvensis) seeds

  • Field violet (Viola arvensis) seed

  • Field violet (Viola arvensis) seed

  • Field violet (Viola arvensis) seeds

  • Field violet (Viola arvensis) capsule (opened)

Explore More :

Explore plus :

Overview

Aperçu

Regulation :

Remarques Réglementation:

  • Quarantine lists of countries e.g. India *may be updated without notice

Regulation Notes:

Distribution :

Répartition :

This species is native to Europe and parts of western Asia and northern Africa (USDA-ARS 2016). It was introduced to eastern Asia (Taiwan), Australia, New Zealand, North America and South America (Bolivia, Ecuador) (FNA 1993+; USDA-ARS 2016). In the United States, it is present in most eastern states and western states along the Pacific Ocean, and is most common in north-eastern states (Doohan and Monaco 1992; USDA-ARS 2016). Occurs across Canada except for the Yukon, Nunavut and Northwest Territories (Doohan and Monaco 1992; Brouillet et al. 2010+).

Habitat and Crop Association :

Habitat et Cultures Associées :

Viola arvensis occurs in annually disturbed areas, cultivated fields, pastures, lawns and roadsides (Doohan and Monaco 1992; Darbyshire 2003), but most frequently found in fields with a long history of grain crops (Doohan and Monaco 1992). In Europe, it is commonly linked with fields, open scrubland and disturbed areas near human habitation (Scoppola and Latannzi 2012).

This species is generally adapted to a range of temperatures and moisture regimes, but appears to prefer areas with higher rainfall and mild winter temperatures with sandy soils (Doohan and Monaco 1992). In a study of V. arvensis in central Alberta, Canada, Degenhardt et al. (2005) concluded it can tolerate lower rainfall and colder winter temperatures than originally believed.

V. arvensis has been found in cereal crops, Medicago sativa (alfalfa), Brassica napus (winter rapeseed), Fragaria x ananassa (strawberry), Brassica rapa (turnip), Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris (sugar beet), Daucus carota subsp. sativus (carrot), Pisum sativum (peas) and Zea mays (corn) crops (Doohan and Monaco 1992).

Economic Use, cultivation area, and Weed Association :

Utilisation économique, zone de culture et association de mauvaises herbes :

Duration of Life Cycle :

Durée du cycle vital:

Annual, winter annual

Dispersal Unit Type :

Type d’unité de dispersion :

Seed

General Information

RENSEIGNEMENTS GÉNÉRAUX

Many factors make Viola arvensis problematic in cultivated fields including: adapted to a range of soil and moisture conditions, being self-fertile, continual seed production through the growing season, extended seed longevity, germination in the spring or fall, partial shade tolerance and herbicide tolerance (Doohan and Monaco 1992). V. arvensis appears to be a poor competitor of other field weeds and does not persist in undisturbed habitats (Doohan and Monaco 1992).

Viola arvensis seed production was estimated at 1400 – 2500 seeds per plant with competition from other weed species, and 20,000 to 46,000 seeds per plant in ideal conditions without competition (Doohan and Monaco 1992). Seeds are primarily dispersed by ejection up to 2.0 metres from the plant; secondary dispersal by water, wind and animals (Doohan and Monaco 1992).

.

Identification

Identification

<
>

  • Capsule

    Size

    • Capsule length: 5.0 – 9.0 mm (FNA 1993+)

    Shape

    • Capsule globose (Doohan and Monaco 1992; FNA 1993+)

    Surface Texture

    • Capsule surface smooth (FNA 1993+)

    Colour

    • Capsule light brown (Doohan and Monaco 1992)

    Other Features

    • Capsule splits in 3 parts when mature and flings the seeds away from the plant (Doohan and Monaco 1992)
<
>

  • Seed

    Size

    • Seed length*: 1.3 – 2.1 mm ; width: 0.7 – 1.0 mm
      *Note: minimum and maximum of 20 seeds in a normal range of this species using image measurement (ISMA 2020)

    Shape

    • Seed is egg- or teardrop-shaped and rounded in 3 dimensions

    Surface Texture

    • Seed surface is smooth or slightly wrinkled; sometimes bubbled

    Colour

    • Shiny yellow to medium brown colour

    Other Features

    Hilum & Hilum area

    • Hilum is at the narrow end of the seed, covered with a light yellow, wrinkled tissue outgrowth (a caruncle or elaiosome) that is generally not removed during processing

    Other than hilum

    • Seeds become mucilaginous when wetted
    • A brown longitudinal raphe extends along one side of the seed
    • The wide end of the seed has a dark brown, round spot

    Field violet (Viola arvensis) seeds

<
>

  • Embryo

    Size

    • Embryo partially fills the seed

    Shape

    • Embryo is spatulate shaped

    Endosperm

    • Endosperm is soft, translucent white coloured

Identification Tips

CONSEILS POUR L’IDENTIFICATION

Seeds of Viola arvensis, V. tricolor and V. biolor may require examination with high magnification (60x and higher), a good reference collection, crop kind and production area information to identify to species level, or they may appear too similar to visually distinguish.

Additional Botany Information

AUTRES RENSEIGNEMENTS BOTANIQUES

Flowers/Inflorescence

  • Flowers are generally small (length: 8.0 – 15.0 mm; width 5.0 – 11.0 mm, Scoppola and Lattanzi 2012)
  • Flower is generally white or light yellow, bottom 3 petals with a central yellow area with purple veins (FNA 1993+; Scoppola and Lattanzi 2012)
  • The top petals may be light purple in some flowers (FNA 1993+)
  • The sepals are generally equal to or longer than the petals of the flower (length: 6.0 – 12.0 mm, Scoppola and Lattanzi 2012)

Similar Species

ESPÈCES SEMBLABLES

Similar species are based on a study of seed morphology of various species, and those with similar dispersal units are identified. The study is limited by physical specimen and literature availability at the time of examination, and possibly impacted by the subjectivity of the authors based on their knowledge and experience. Providing similar species information for seed identification is to make users aware of similarities that could possibly result in misidentification.

Three species, Viola arvensis, V. tricolor and V. bicolor, have a similar seed size, shiny brownish or yellowish colour, and generally a smooth surface. Some seeds of V. arvensis and V. tricolor may have a sparsely or densely bubbled surface, this appears to be a result of wetting the seed and producing mucilage.

Seeds of V. ×wittrockiana (cultivated pansy) may be confused with seeds of these 3 species, but are generally larger, often with a rough, densely bubbled surface and are overall more robust in appearance.

There are four other wild Viola species with distribution in the agricultural production areas of Canada.
a. Viola sororia
b. Viola odorata
c. Viola sagittata
d. Viola pedata

Seeds of Viola odorata can be distinguished from other Viola species by their larger size (length*: 2.0 – 2.6 mm; width: 1.2 – 1.7 mm), light yellow colour, and a large elaiosome (tissue outgrowth) that covers generally ¾ of the raphe and extends past the end of the seed by 0.2 – 1.9 mm* (note: measurement from dried tissue, fresh tissue may be longer)

Seeds of the remaining three species can be distinguished from Viola arvensis by seed colour; they are either light yellow with brown, rectangular shaped streaks or dark greenish-brown with small black spots.

*Note: minimum and maximum of 10 seeds in a normal range of this species using specimen measurement (ISMA 2020)

Click to select species

Cliquez pour sélectionner les espèces

Comparison Window

Fenêtre de comparaison

Need ID Help?

Besoin d’aide pour l’identification?

ID Forum
Forum d'identification
ID Tool
Outil d'identification

Reference(s)

Référence(s)

Brouillet, L., Coursol, F., Meades, S. J., Favreau, M., Anions, M., Bélisle, P. and Desmet, P. 2010+. VASCAN, the database of vascular plants of Canada. http://data.canadensys.net/vascan/ Accessed May27,  2021.

Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI). 2024. Invasive Species Compendium, CAB International, Wallingford, UK. https://www.cabidigitallibrary.org/journal/cabicompendium Accessed July 16, 2024.

Darbyshire, S. J. 2003. Inventory of Canadian Agricultural Weeds. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Research Branch. Ottawa, ON.

Degenhardt, R. F., Spaner, D., Harker, K. N., Raatz, L. L., and Hall, L. M. 2005. Plasticity, life cycle and interference potential of field violet (Viola arvensis Murr.) in direct-seeded wheat and canola in central Alberta. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 85(1):271-284.

Doohan, D.J. and Monaco, T.J. 1992. The biology of Canadian weeds. 99. Viola arvensis Murr. Canadian Journal of Plant Science 72:187-201.

Flora of North America (FNA) Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+. Flora of North America North of Mexico [Online]. 22+ vols. New York and Oxford.  Accessed December 29, 2022.

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) Secretariat. 2022. https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei Accessed via https://www.gbif.org/species/5331235 Accessed December 29, 2022.

International Seed Morphology Association (ISMA) 2020. Method for Seed Size Measurement.  https://www.idseed.org/authors/details/method_for_seed_size_measurement.html

Scoppola, A. and Lattanzi, E. 2012. Viola section Melanium (Violaceae) in Italy. New data on morphology of Viola tricolor-Group. Webbia 67: 47-64.

U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Services (USDA-ARS). 2017. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomysearch Accessed April 25, 2017.

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Services (USDA-ARS). 2024. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomysearch Accessed July 16, 2024.

Author(s)

AUTEUR(S)

Jennifer Neudorf, Angela Salzl, Ruojing Wang, Karen Castro, Katrina Entwistle

Canadian Food Inspection Agency

contactus@idseed.org

Last updated
on 2023-03-27

© 2024 ISMA - International Seed Morphology Association