American Dog Violet

Viola labradorica

Found in moist alluvial woodlands and forests, seepage slopes, marl ravines, hammocks. Weakley, Flora of the Southeastern United States (2025), Northern Tier edition What its natural habitat tells you

Keystone

Native to West Virginia (estimated). How scores work Is it native here?

Profile 76%

Height: 1–8 inches
Spread: 3–6 inches
Light: Full sun to part shade
Soil moisture: Average

Space about 1 ft apart from its recorded spread, about 100 per 100 sq ft. Enter your bed size for a count

Will it fit your yard?

Viola labradorica — bloom photograph — Photo by and (c)2007 Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man) · CC BY-SA 2.5 · Original photograph

At a glance

Life cycle: Perennial

Not yet recorded · Leaves · Bloom

Bloom: NC species account not read yet.

Leaves: no source found yet.

This plant is missing most of its facts, so Quercus is looking them up in old botany books.

Recorded in 7 West Virginia counties.

Natural habitats

Places it grows wild. Not a planting requirement. Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 3

Harvey Joiner, Woods Scene: tall beeches in a moist Kentucky woodland, light falling through a closed canopy onto a damp forest floor. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: Kentucky beech woods (Harvey Joiner, Louisville painter of Kentucky beech forests; the painting does not name the site), a neighboring state.Woods Scene, Harvey Joiner, c. 1880-1920. Public domain. Source record.

Forests and woodlands

Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.

Seeps and springs

Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.

All habitats

Also found with this plant

Wildlife whose habitat models include habitats this plant grows in, in West Virginia. Shared habitat, not food. 52 animals.

Wood Thrush
Hylocichla mustelina
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Sphyrapicus varius
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Coccyzus americanus
Birds. 1 shared habitat
Yellow-crowned Night-heron
Nyctanassa violacea
Birds. 1 shared habitat

Widespread birds also seen here (35)

Found in many habitats here, so not listed above.

All wildlife of West Virginia

Ecological relationships

Who uses this plant?

What these records mean

29CaterpillarsGenus host records with ranges including WV

Genus host records with ranges including WV · Viola

Euptoieta claudiaVariegated Fritillary
Agrotis gladiariaSwordsman Dart, Clay-Backed Cut-Worm
Agrotis venerabilisVenerable Dart, Dusky Cut-Worm
Apantesis naisNais Tiger Moth
Archips purpuranaOmnivorous Leafroller Moth
Argynnis aphroditeAphrodite Fritillary, Great Spangled Fritillary
Argynnis atlantisMountain Silver-Spot, Regal Fritillary, Atlantis Fritillary
Argynnis cybeleGreat Spangled Fritillary, Variegated Fritillary
Argynnis dianaVariegated Fritillary
Argyrotaenia velutinanaRed-Banded Leafroller Moth, Jack Pine Tube Moth

Show all 29

Boloria bellonaSilver-Bordered Fritillary, Meadow Fritillary
Boloria myrinaAtlantis Fritillary, Silver-Bordered Fritillary
Elaphria grataGrateful Midget
Elophila obliteralisWaterlily Leafcutter Moth
Eubaphe mendicaThe Beggar
Eupsilia vinulentaStraight-Toothed Sallow
Herpetogramma pertextalisBold-Feathered Grass Moth
Herpetogramma thestealisZigzag Herpetogramma, Subtle-Feathered Grass Moth
Hypercompe scriboniaGiant Leopard Moth, Great Leopard Moth
Lacanobia subjunctaSpeckled Arches, Subdues Arches, Harnessed Mamestra, Speckled Cutworm Moth, Grand Arches?(incorrectly)
Spilosoma virginicaVirginian Tiger Moth, Yellow Woolybear Moth, Yellow Bear
Spodoptera frugiperdaFall Armyworm Moth
Spodoptera ornithogalliYellow-Striped Armyworm Moth, Cotton Cutworm
Trichordestra legitimaStriped Garden Caterpillar Moth
Udea rubigalisCelery Leaftier
Xestia c-nigrumSpotted Cut-Worm, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Lesser Black-letter Dart
Xestia dolosaGreater Black-Letter Dart, Greater Spotted Cutworm
Xestia smithiiSmith's Dart
Herpetogramma aquilonalis

Shropshire & Tallamy 2025, Lepidoptera of North America north of Mexico, ZooKeys 1261 (ODbL)

16BeesSoutheastern regional records

Southeastern regional records · Viola

Individual names are not available yet.

Noori, Seltmann & Orr 2026, A curated and integrated dataset for exploring global bee-plant interactions (GloBI), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0

1Specialist beesPollen specialists

Pollen specialists · Viola

Andrena violae

Smith, Bachelder, Russell, Morales, Mosher & Seltmann 2024, Bee-Specialization-Modeling v0.6.1 (specialist host table compiled from J. Fowler's pollen specialist bee lists), Zenodo, CC BY 4.0

7BirdsRecorded eating Viola in West Virginia

Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Birds whose range includes West Virginia, most records first.