There’s nothing common about the common blue violet, Viola sororia. Its heart-shaped leaves and blue-violet flowers are a welcome sight in the spring. And it’s an expert at reproduction.
If a pollinating insect like a native bee cross-pollinates the flower, violets will produce seeds. But since this does not happen often, during the summer after the flowers have bloomed, brown flowers without petals produce seeds that are mechanically injected. These seeds are clones of the parent plant because they’re produced without pollination.
And violets can also spread by rhizomes or roots. The common blue violet is considered a weed by some, but violet leaves are the only food the Arkansas state butterfly’s caterpillar, the Diana fritillary, can eat.
Google “the Diana project” for information on how you can help these threatened butterflies by planting violets.