Plant Profile: Viola macloskeyi

The Small White Violet is a wildflower indigenous to forests, wetlands, moist banks, and meadows. It features two distinct types of flowers: chasmogamous flowers, which bloom and open, and cleistogamous flowers, which lack petals and remain closed. The cleistogamous variety develops only after the tree canopy has fully leafed out and the chasmogamous flowers have matured. These closed flowers are smaller and grow on separate stems, producing seeds in an ovoid capsule. Among the two, the chasmogamous flower is the more fragrant option.

The individual flowers emerge on slender, hairless stalks that can be green or reddish, rising above the basal leaves. Each flower consists of five petals, with the top two angled outward, the lowest petal projecting forward and forming a spur at the back, and the remaining two petals extending sideways, adorned with a few hairs near their bases. Dark purple lines traverse the lower three petals. The leaves are basal, situated at the plant's base.

Small White Violet spreads through stolons that root at the nodes, making it an excellent choice for ground cover.

In terms of pests and diseases, this plant faces no significant challenges.