Charming spring blooming perennial with 5-petaled white flowers of which the upper two twist-curl backwards and the lowest is purple-veined. The stalks of its flowers and heart-shaped leaves often show a reddish-tinge.
Violets are host plants for fritillary butterfly caterpillars.
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canada and the British Possessions. 3 vols. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. Vol. 2: 556.
Brave and true and sweet thou art.