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Smooth-Leaf White Violet
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Smooth-Leaf White Violet
ative Photo: Saroj Kasaju
Common name: Smooth-Leaf White Violet • Hindi: बनफ़्शा Banafsha • Kannada: Bili kaamakasthoori • Kashmiri: ﺑﻨﻔﺸﻪ Banafsha • Manipuri: ꯑꯃꯣ Amo • Nepali: धट्टे घाँस Ghatte ghans • Tangkhul: Huikhon
Botanical name: Viola pilosa    Family: Violaceae (Violet family)
Synonyms: Viola serpens Wall., Viola pogonantha

Smooth-Leaf White Violet is a perennial herb very similar to the Himalayan White Violet differing in having narrower leaves which are narrower, longer, ovate-lanceshaped, pointed to long-pointed, with thin white hairs or almost hairless above. Leaves are 5-7-nerved or veined. Leaf-stalk is almost as long as the leaf blade. Flowers are lilac to almost white, 1-1.5 cm across. Upper petals normally have hairs at the base. Stigma is 3-lobed, beaked. Stipules are entire or toothed, not fringed. Himalayan White Violet has fringed stipules. Smooth-Leaf White Violet is found in the Himalayas, from Afghanistan to SW China, Burma and SE Asia, at altitudes of 1200-3000 m. Flowering: March-May.

Identification credit: J.M. Garg Photographed in Kalimpong, West Bengal.


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