Disentangling the identity of an escaped garden species

Finding the correct name for newly emerging neophyte ornamental species is often complicated. Multiple introductions of morphologically similar species, the use of incorrect names, a lack of taxonomic analyses and hybridisation among cultivars, or even with native species, can lead to confusion. This difficulty concerns not only cultivated species of Cornus, Cotoneaster and Opuntia, but also applies to the only neophyte species of Viola in Switzerland. A study by InfoFlora has documented all populations in the Maggia Valley (the region with the most reported occurrences in Switzerland) and identified the species, originally known in Switzerland as V. cucullata Aiton, as V. sororia var. sororia, and more precisely, the white cultivar V. sororia ‘Albiflora’.

Disentangling the identity of the only naturalized alien Viola (Violaceae) species in Switzerland, Jousson et al. 2024