Viola tricolor subsp. macedonica (Boiss. & Heldr.) A. F. W. Schmidt (syn. Viola macedonica Boiss. & Heldr.)

Taxonomy: Fam. Violaceae// Genus: Viola// Species: Viola tricolor L.// Subspecies: Viola tricolor subsp. macedonica (Boiss. & Heldr.) A. F. W. Schmidt.

Determined according to the botanical keys provided by Valentine, Merxmüller and Schmidt in Tutin et al. (1968), Diklić in Josifović (1972) and Micevski (1995). Micevski, K. (1995). In Micevski (1995) this taxon is accepted at the species level – Viola macedonica Boiss. & Heldr., while the first two accept it as subspecies of Viola tricolor L. In The Euro+Med PlantBase (source: Raab-Straube & Henning, 2018+) it is accepted at the subspecies rank – Viola tricolor subsp. macedonica (Boiss. & Heldr.) A. F. W. Schmidt.

Species variability: Two subspecies of Viola tricolor L. occur in the Osogovo region: Viola tricolor L. subsp. tricolor and Viola tricolor subsp. macedonica (Boiss. & Heldr.) A. F. W. Schmidt.

Distinction between subspecies:

– subsp. tricolor: Annual with several stems. Flowers variously colored violet-blue or blue-cream with yellow spot/ yellow lower petal, cream-yellow or entirely yellow. Grasslands, rocky terrains and gravel.

– subsp. macedonica: Perennial with well developed rhizome and numerous stems, with larger habit and longer stems than in subsp. tricolor. Flowers violet -cream, blue-cream or white at opening and later becoming blue/ violet, the lower with a yellow spot at base. Grasslands, clearings and edges of woods and forests.

Lifeform: Perennial; Hemicryptophyte according to the Raunkiær system.

Distribution: Balkan Peninsula according to The Euro+Med PlantBase (source: Raab-Straube & Henning, 2018+) and the Plants of the World Online portal (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew). 

Habitat:  Shrublands, grasslands, clearings and edges of forests. Found usually at mid-altitudes c. 800-900 m, sporadically at lower altitudes to 500 m.

Flowering period: Spring – fall: APR, MAY, JUN, JUL, AUG, SEP.

References:

Micevski, K. (1995). The Flora of the Republic of Macedonia Vol. I, Book 3. Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Rod Viola L. Diklić, N. in Josifović, M. (1972). Flora SR Srbije III. Srpska Akademija Nauka i Umetnosti, Beograd, pp. 129-164.

Viola L. Valentine, D. H., Merxmüller, H. and Schmidt, A. Tutin, T.G., Heywood, V.H., Burges, N.A., Moore, D.M., Valentine, D.H., Walters, S.M., & Webb, D.A. (1968). Flora Europaea. Volume 2. Rosaceae to Umbelliferae. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 270 – 282.

Viola tricolor subsp. macedonica (Boiss. & Heldr.) A.F.W.Schmidt. Plants of the World Online portal, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77251671-1 [Accessed 09.12.2022].

Viola tricolor subsp. macedonica. Raab-Straube, E. von & Henning, T. (2018+): Violaceae. – In: Euro+Med Plantbase – the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity. Published on the Internet https://europlusmed.org/cdm_dataportal/taxon/9e459ad9-57da-41c3-8836-27c972908340 [Accessed 09.12.2022].

Last update: 09.12.2022.