Re Viola ?elegantula?MGS photo notes:
- Yellow eye does not have dark rays (they are further out)
- can't see spur or sepals or stipules on fully open flowers or not well enough
My best reference is Matthias Erben's 1985 work on pansies of SE Europe (1985).
Because that is in German (and my German is poor), my initial pruning-of-the-possibilities is based on distribution; Erben has maps.
He shows these species in Montenegro (pp.722-735):
- V. beckiana (eye/rays and leaves wrong (Erben, 1985, p.454,455)
- V. calcarata ssp. zoysii (eye/rays correct (Erben, 1985, p.450 (b3); usually yellow, but sometimes violet-mauve; Erben's map (p.725) shows sites ~40km SW from the Mrtvica Canyon in Montenegro)
- V. elegantula (eye/rays correct (Erben, 1985, p.635 (a1), Erben's map (p.732) shows sites including the Mrtvica Canyon)
- V. latisepala (eye/rays wrong (Erben, 1985, p.647 (a1))
- V. macedonica ssp. macedonica (eye/rays wrong (Erben, 1985, p.658 (a1))
- V. macedonica ssp. bosniaca (eye/rays wrong (Erben, 1985, p.660 (a1))
- V. orphanidis (eye/rays wrong (Erben, 1985, p.694 (a1))
- V. polyodonta (no photos or useful diagrams found, description not translated from German (Erben, 1985, p.682-685, 734) - hence cannot rule out, but it is noted by Erben from only one locality - near Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is ~100km NW from the Mrtvica Canyon in Montenegro)
Similar but ruled out:
- V. schariensis (Albania, dark rays extend into yellow eye)
- V. eugeniae (Italy, eye/rays wrong)
- V. valderia (Italy, eye/rays and leaves wrong)
And I checked many more, which were not so similar.
V. elegantula has, in comparison with V. latisepala and other relatives of V. tricolor:
- more deeply divided stipules
- broader sepals
- longer spur
(Erben, p.630)
John, in this respect, please could you check your earlier (4jul12) photo (
http://www.mgsforum.org/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=225.0;attach=4423;image). There is not enough resolution in the version on the forum for me to do so.
Refinement:
- V. elegantula - shortly pubescent throughout, stems 10-20cm long
- V. calcarata ssp. zoysii - compact, short-stemmed; example of purple-flowered form in Montenegro -
http://www.biolib.cz/en/taxonimage/id111939/ It is not well-defined, but there is a tendency for the eye of V. c. zoysii to be squarish - which is not the shape in the MGS photos.
If we could see the stipules better it would help (Erben pp.450, 634, 685), in comparison with V. elegantula (broad and fairly deeply divided):
- V. calcarata - narrower and merely slightly toothed
- V. polyodonta - broader and less-divided
Going on Jorun's photo, my feeling is V. elegantula. John, perhaps you could check that, too. Need to look at the originals.
Summary:
- Most likely: V. elegantula- Less likely: V. calcarata ssp. zoysii / V. polyodonta
As regards the correct name for the plant, The Plant List (
http://www.theplantlist.org) has :
- V. beckiana - 'unresolved name'
- V. calcarata ssp. zoysii - 'unresolved name'
- V. elegantula - 'unresolved name'
- V. latisepala - 'unresolved name'
- V. macedonica - 'unresolved name'
- V. polyodonta - 'unresolved name'
- V. orphanidis - unresolved name'
...Which means just that - they are unresolved because deep enough taxonomic studies have not been done/concluded.
So, for now, the names I have used are as good as any.
Ref:
Matthias Erben, 1985:
'Cytotaxonomische Untersuchungen an Sudosteuropaischen, Viola - Arten der sektion Melanium';
Mitt. Bot. Munchen 21, pp.339-740, 31dec1985;
ISSN 0006-8179
(The estimable Wittrock's works don't help much here.)