The taxonomy of the Viola nuttallii complex
Morphological, cytological, and phytochemical data were incorporated into numerical and statistical analyses to produce a revision of Viola subsection Nuttallianae. A basic chromosome number of x = 6 was confirmed for this polyploid complex, which includes five species: V. vallicola, 2n = 12; V. tomentosa, 2n = 12; V. nuttallii, 2n = 24; V. praemorsa, 2n = 36 and 48; and V. bakeri, 2n = 48. Departures from recent authors include the recognition of two varieties in V. vallicola, vallicola and major (Hook.) Fabijan, based on flavonoid chemistry and distribution. Viola praemorsa is envisaged as embracing a wide range of morphological and chemical diversity, the extremes of which are recognized as the subspecies praemorsa, flavovirens (Pollard) Fabijan, and linguaefolia. In the absence of significant morphological or distributional differences between the V. linguaefolia and V. praemorsa subspecies major (sensu Baker and Clausen) and oregona, these three previously recognized taxa are included in subspecies linguaefolia. Based on cytological, morphological, and flavonoid data presented here, possible phylogenetic relationships are discussed.