VIOLA HYMETTIA
Common Names:- None
Homotypic Synonyms:- None
Meaning:- Viola The Latin name applied to several fragrant plants.
Hymettia (L) Possibly after Hymettia a mountain in SE.Greece.
General description:- Shortly hispid annual.
Stems:-
1) 3-10(-20) cm.
Leaves:-
1) 1·5-2 cm.
a) lower, ovate-orbicular.
b) upper, oblong-spathulate, margins crenate.
2) Stipules, pinnately divided almost to the base, terminal segment stalked and
leaf-like, larger than the rest.
Flowers:-
1) 1-1·5 cm.
2) Corolla, petals large, at least 1.5 times as long as the sepals, variable in colour;
a) lower petal, 8-14 mm, including the stout spur, yellow often with darker
markings.
b) lateral, cream to pale blue.
c) upper, cream to bluish-violet.
3) Spur, 3-4 mm, stout, slightly longer than the calycine appendages.
4) Peduncles, 4-5 cm.
Key features:-
1) Corolla, petals, large, at least 1.5 times as long as the sepals.
2) Plant, hispid.
Habitat:- Grassy and stony meadows, at low altitudes.
Distribution:- South-eastern Peloponnisos, Greece and eastwards to Portugal and
Turkey. Previously unrecorded on Crete.
Flowering time:- May-June.
Photos by:- Yannis Zacharakis