Both Viola

Viola adunca vs Viola sororia

These two are not on this page because a keyword tool suggested them. They are here because our own identification model genuinely mistook one for the other, on real photographs, 10 times. We publish the rate, and then we tell you what actually separates them.

Confused 10x by our model Same genus Viola Method published

Side by sidefigs. a and b

Viola adunca, photographed by Carol Ann Vermeer
fig. a Carol Ann Vermeer, CC BY 4.0

Viola adunca

hookedspur violet
Viola sororia, photographed by Trix Niernberger
fig. b Trix Niernberger, CC0 1.0

Viola sororia

woolly blue violet

How often our model gets it wrong measured, not estimated

When the plant was The model said How often
Viola adunca Viola sororia 10 of 17 (59%)

The confusion runs one way only. The model mistakes Viola adunca for Viola sororia, but not the reverse.

Measured on 38,299 openly licensed, research-grade photographs. Full method and dataset.

What actually separates themon the record

Family Both Violaceae. The family does not separate them.
Genus Both Viola. Congeners, which is why this is hard.
Flowering Peaks in May versus April. If the plant is in flower, timing helps. (n = 2,316 and 327.)

What we do not have yet: the diagnostic morphological character that a botanist would key on, from a source we can cite. We are not going to invent one. Until we have it, this page tells you the two are genuinely confusable, how often, and what the taxonomy and the flowering data do and do not settle.

Both recordsfull pages