Violet
Violet, the name of a group of herbaceous annual and perennial plants that grow only in temperate areas. Of the 500 known species, 80 are native to North America. Violets seldom grow more than six inches (15 cm) tall. Their flowers appear in shades of blue, violet, purple, lilac, lavender, and yellow, and in white. The lowest of the five petals of each flower bears a spur containing nectar. Many species of violets bear a second kind of flower, near or under the ground. These flowers fertilize themselves and produce seeds without opening.
Violets are small plants with blue or violet flowers.The fragrant sweet violet, native to the Mediterranean region, is violet in color. The color violet was named after it. The sweet violet is the parent of many cultivated varieties of different colors. In North America it is grown chiefly in greenhouses. The common blue violet of eastern North America has bluish-white flowers or white flowers with purple veins. The bird-foot violet is named for the shape of its leaves. Other common North American violets are the sweet white violet, the round-leaved yellow violet, and the prairie, or larkspur, violet. The pansy is a variety of the European wild violet. .)
The dogtooth violet and African violet are not members of the violet family.
Violets form the genus Viola of the violet family, Violaceae. The sweet violet is V. odorata; common blue violet, V. sororia; bird-foot violet, V. pedata; sweet white violet, V. blanda; round-leaved yellow violet, V. rotundifolia; prairie violet, V. pedatifida; European wild violet, V. tricolor.