Northern White Violet (Viola pallens (Banks) Brainerd.)
Yesterday, we had our first dusting of snow and it persisted on the grass until the evening. It reminded me of some of those low white summer flowers whose petals look like snow when they bloom in masses on the lawn or in a field. In any season, the sight of ‘snow’ can be a charming, welcome sight.
The northern white violet, or small white violet (Viola pallens (Banks) Brainerd.) inhabits the moist ground of meadows, bogs and thickets, and it blooms profusely on our front lawn. Pallens means pale, referring to the color of the flowers. The leaves are somewhat heart-shaped.
The violets are a difficult group, taxonomically. Viola pallens is also known as Viola macloskeyi Lloyd.
Northern White Violet
Viola pallens (Banks) Brainerd.
~
stars in the northern meadow
scattered at the feet
of cattle grazing hay
violet sweet
~
hearts among the grasses
where the ground is wet
flowers pale and nodding
small white violet
~
Published as: ‘Northern White Violet’, April 2005, Refuge 14 (1)
© Jane Tims 2005
nichepoetryandprose 
Beautiful drawing and poem Jane. “I” like the highlighted darkness. Makes the plant jump right out at you. I also like the intro to your poem. Well done.
-Denis
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JD
November 20, 2011 at 9:45 pm
Hi. Thanks for the comment. Background is sometimes a difficult choice in drawing. Jane
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jane tims
November 21, 2011 at 8:17 am
I’ve sometimes thought that the three most important things in a picture are background, background, background. That’s overstating the case, but there’s some truth in it.
I’m not familiar with white violets, but I’ve observed than many purple flowers have white variants.
Steve Schwartzman
http://portraitsofwildflowers.wordpress.com
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Steve Schwartzman
November 21, 2011 at 2:47 pm
Simply beautiful, Jane. 🙂
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Robin
November 19, 2011 at 10:58 am