Viola hederacea
Content
Description
Perennial;
Leaves 0.9-2 by 0.9-3 cm, (1-)1.2-1½ times as broad as long, reniform to suborbicular, cordate, broadly obtuse, distinctly repand-crenate, sparsely pubescent beneath, more heavily above, subcoriaceous, dark green;
Stipules 2-3 by 1-2 mm, ovate-lanceolate, acute, fimbrio-dentate to fimbriate, glabrous, green to fuscous, free.
Flowers 7-9 mm, white with purple centre;
Sepals 4-6 by c. 1½ mm, linear-lanceolate, acute, entire, glabrous, green with scarious margin;
Petals about twice as long as broad, obovate-oblong;
Capsule c. 8 mm, ellipsoid, glabrous.
Distribution
Asia-Tropical: Malaya (Peninsular Malaysia present), Australasia: New South Wales (New South Wales present); Queensland (Queensland present); Tasmania (Tasmania present); Victoria (Victoria present), Cameron Highlands present, Pahang present, S. Australia present
Tasmania, Australia (S. Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland), in Malesia: Malay Peninsula (Cameron Highlands, Pahang). .
Notes
The isolated occurrence in Malaya of this Australian species is surprising, and falls outside the accepted migration track of cold-loving plants from the southern hemisphere into Malesia. However, in view of its relatively recent discovery in the Cameron Highlands, an area which has been well-collected in the past, in a locality close to the radio station on Batu Brin-chang, it is possible that this species has been introduced by man.