Downy Yellow Violet Viola pubescens is a Michigan Native plant available at Wild Cherry Farm
Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly Wild Cherry Farm
Downy Yellow Violet Viola pubescens is a Michigan Native plant available at Wild Cherry Farm
Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly Wild Cherry Farm

Downy Yellow Violet (Viola pubescens)

$7.00

Downy Yellow Violet flowers attract a variety of native bees, small butterflies, and skippers (illinoiswildflower.info). It is the host plant to the Great Spangled Fritillary (almost all of the Fritillaries) and 31 other species of butterflies and moths in our area (nwf.org), including the possibly extirpated Regal fritillary (mnfi.anr.msu.edu). It is also the host plant to the specialist bee Andrena violae (Johnson and Colla, 2023). Ants spread the plants to new areas because of their seed’s oily appendages and a variety of birds will eat their seeds as well, so in the right environment, it can do some spreading.

Photo credit: Joshua Mayer-1, John Blair-2

Downy Yellow Violet flowers attract a variety of native bees, small butterflies, and skippers (illinoiswildflower.info). It is the host plant to the Great Spangled Fritillary (almost all of the Fritillaries) and 31 other species of butterflies and moths in our area (nwf.org), including the possibly extirpated Regal fritillary (mnfi.anr.msu.edu). It is also the host plant to the specialist bee Andrena violae (Johnson and Colla, 2023). Ants spread the plants to new areas because of their seed’s oily appendages and a variety of birds will eat their seeds as well, so in the right environment, it can do some spreading.

Photo credit: Joshua Mayer-1, John Blair-2

Life Cycle: Perennial 

Sun Exposure: Partial-Light Shade

Soil Moisture: Medium/wet—Med/dry

Height: 4-12 inches

Plant Spacing: 

Bloom Time: April-June

Bloom Color: Yellow

Advantages: Caterpillar Favorite, Pollinator Favorite, Bird Favorite, Deer Resistant

Host: Great Spangled Fritillary (almost all of the Fritillaries) and 31 other species of butterflies and moths use this as a caterpillar host plant in our area (nwf.org)

Specialist Bee: Andrena violae (Johnson and Colla, 2023)

Beneficial for Endangered or Threatened Species: Regal fritillary (Speyeria idalia) (mnfi.anr.msu.edu)

Resource: Johnson, Lorraine, and Sheila Colla. A Northern Gardener’s Guide to Native Plants and Pollinators: Creating Habitat in the Northeast, Great Lakes, and Upper Midwest. Island Press, 2023

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