Parma violets

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Parma violets
White violet (Viola alba), illustration

White violet ( Viola alba ), illustration

Systematics
Rosids
Eurosiden I
Order : Malpighiales (Malpighiales)
Family : Violet family (Violaceae)
Genre : Violets ( viola )
Type : Parma violets
Scientific name
Viola alba
Better

The White violets , Viola alba Besser , belongs within the family of violet plants to the species of violets . The Parma violet is the double-flowered cultivar of the subspecies Viola alba subsp. dehnhardtii .

Occurrence

The general distribution area of ​​the white violet extends from North Africa to Europe and Southwest Asia. The main area is in the northern Mediterranean area and extends north into the Upper Rhine region, and it extends from the Balkan Peninsula to Lower Austria. In the Bavarian Alpine foothills, there are only individual growing locations between the southwestern German and Lower Austrian boundaries. A completely isolated single occurrence exists in Öland at 63 ° N. Br. Extensive sub-areas are in North Africa, in Transcaucasia and in southern Turkey.

The white violet needs calcareous clay soil in warm, but more shady than sunny locations. It populates somewhat nitrogen-influenced forest edges, bushes and wastelands near settlement. It thrives in Central Europe in companies of the Alliarion association.

description

The subspecies Viola alba subsp. Alba of the white violet grows to a height of 3–10 cm. The runners do not take root, they rise in front and usually bloom in the first year. The stipules of the white violet are linear-lanceolate, pointed, 4 to 6 times as long as they are wide and with distant hairy fringes. The petiole is hairy protruding. The leaf blade is almost triangular-heart-shaped and pubescent. The stem axis is pubescent.

Flowering time is from March to April. The flowers are white, rarely purple.

The chromosome number of Viola alba is 2n = 20.

Subspecies and their distribution

The natural occurrence of Viola alba extends from southwest to central Europe to Turkey and Iran . In North Africa, the species occurs in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.

In Europe, the following subspecies can be distinguished from Viola alba Besser :

Parma violets

In the past, Parma violets were considered to belong to Viola odorata or Viola suavis, or as hybrids of several species, but more recent studies suggest that they belong to Viola alba subsp. dehnhardtii close. The Parma violet is only known from garden culture. It differs from the March violet in its lighter, more elongated, shiny leaves and far more numerous, thinner runners ( stolons ). The flower color is light lilac blue or white, darker forms are rare. The flowering period usually extends from January to April, occasionally even in late autumn. The chasmogamous flowers (see celestogamy ) are infertile, but - even if only under favorable culture conditions and even then rather rarely - cleistogamous flowers are occasionally formed and fertile seeds are produced.

In regions of the Mediterranean with mild winter, Parma violets can be grown outdoors; on this side of the Alps, they should preferably be cultivated under glass because of their early flowering. With a protective cover, the plants can withstand temperatures below 0 ° C.

history

Filled violets have been known since ancient times, they are already mentioned in Theophrastus . There have been numerous mentions in literature since the beginning of modern times, but it remains to be seen whether these were Parma violets or filled forms of Viola odorata . The first reliable representation of a Parma violet can be found in one of the surviving Karlsruhe tulip books . In the 19th century, the Parma violet was particularly valued for its intensely sweet, “powdery” scent. Since around 1800 numerous cultivars appeared, which were initially considered to belong to Viola odorata . Their filled shapes, which have become very rare today, are easy to distinguish from those of the Parma violets. Only through the investigations of Malécot et al. a. It has been found that the Parma violet cultivars that exist today have a high probability of all having a common origin in Viola alba .

use

Parma violets were widely used as cut flowers until the First World War. There were large cultures mainly in southern Europe, but in Germany they were also cultivated as drift violets under glass. Parma violets were also used for perfumery purposes and for confectionery (candied violets), after the introduction of synthetic ionones (violet fragrances) this use has become practically meaningless. Today there is little commercial cultivation in the Toulouse area . In addition, in the two cities of Parma and Toulouse they are of great folkloristic and tourist importance.

Cultivars

  • 'Parme de Toulouse', light lilac blue, the most widespread variety, in-vitro propagated plants can be found in large numbers in stores, sometimes under fancy names
  • 'Conte di Brazza' (Syn .: 'Swanley White'), white with sometimes a bluish tinge
  • 'Duchesse de Parme', similar to 'Parme de Toulouse'
  • 'D'Udine', similar to 'Parme de Toulouse'
  • 'Marie Louise' darker shade with bright, sometimes also reddish center: proven in 1830 in Nuremberg available
  • 'Pallida Plena' (Syn .: 'Neapolitan'), the Neapolitan violet, is considered the original form, pale purple and not very vital
  • 'Hopley's White', white with a greenish tinge
  • 'Ash Vale Blue', a newer two-tone variety, light blue with white

literature

  • Otto Schmeil , Jost Fitschen (greeting), Siegmund Seybold: The flora of Germany and the neighboring countries. A book for identifying all wild and frequently cultivated vascular plants . 95th completely revised u. exp. Edition. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2011, ISBN 978-3-494-01498-2 .
  • Rothmaler, Exkursionsflora von Deutschland , 20th revised edition, Vascular Plants Baseline, 2011, Spektrum Akademischer Verlag ISBN 978-3-8274-1606-3
  • Oskar Sebald, Siegmund Seybold, Georg Philippi (Hrsg.): The fern and flowering plants of Baden-Württemberg. Volume 2: Special part (Spermatophyta, subclass Dilleniidae): Hypericaceae to Primulaceae . Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-8001-3312-1 .
  • Dietmar Aichele, Heinz-Werner Schwegler: The flowering plants of Central Europe , Franckh-Kosmos-Verlag, 2nd revised edition 1994, 2000, Volume 3, ISBN 3 440-08048-X
  • Roy E. Coombs: Violets: The History & Cultivation of Scented Violets . Second Edition, BT Batsford, Publisher 2003.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . With the collaboration of Angelika Schwabe and Theo Müller. 8th, heavily revised and expanded edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 , pp.  677 .
  2. ^ A b c d e Viola in Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
  3. ↑ a b Valéry Malécot, Jérôme Munzinger, Roxana Yockteng, Max Henry: On the origin of the sweet-smelling Parma violet cultivars (Violaceae): wide intraspecific hybridization, sterility, and sexual reproduction. In: American Journal of Botany , Volume 94, 2007, pp. 29-41. Abstract.
  4. ^ Karlsruhe tulip books. In: Website of the Baden State Library. Badische Landesbibliothek, accessed on January 27, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Reider, Jacob Ernst von. Annalen der Blumisterei , Nuremberg, 1830/31, plate 137

Web links

Commons : Parma violets ( Viola alba )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files