| Natha - I am not sure exactly where V. abyssinica fits into the hierarchy, but I have some information on other species in sub-Saharan Africa, some of which are similar to it. V. cinerea var. stocksii occurs in Somalia and Socotra (and other places in Arabia-Pakistan); it used to be called V. stocksii. It looks (to me) similar to V. abyssinica, which is perhaps not surprising since the distributions of the two fit closely together (abyssinica in Ethiopia and adjacent areas, down to Madagascar as we know from Masashi's visit there in Feb 2002). V. eminii is also similar. It is sometimes given as a ssp. of V. abyssinica.
Viola eminii R.E.Fr. in Act. Hort. Berg. viii. 6 (1925). In Zimbabwe there is a sprawling Viola species with tiny flowers. So Jane Browning (University of Natal Herbarium, South Africa) told me. This still sounds like V. abyssinnica or eminii, but it might possibly be something like V. serpens, from India. In South Africa there is V. decumbens. A comment from Robert Grant-Downton, 3feb97, in response to my email enquiring about Viola in East Africa and about his lecture "Plant Hunting in Kenya's Wild West" at St.Johns College, Oxford 12feb97, which I attended:
"There are a few Viola species in East Africa, and in western Kenya they are quite common at higher altitudes. There are no exciting alpine developments in East Africa: unlike Lobelia and Dendrosenecio. We saw VV. abyssinica and eminii mostly in the high montane forest, bamboo zone and in moister grazed grasslands in the heath zone, where they are straggling, running, and sometimes weakly scrambling perennials. The flowers are relatively small and variable from pale whitish to deep violet and the leaves roundish. There is one species which is absolutely minute - I forget its name and have never seen it as I believe it does not occur in the areas I have botanised. The best references for Viola in eastern Africa are "Upland Kenya Wildflowers" (by the East African Wildlife Society, publ=Agnew & Agnew, 2nd edition, 1994) and the Violaceae volume of the "Flora of Tropical East Africa" More about V. cinerea:
Viola cinerea Boiss. var. stocksii (Boiss.) Beck. [Beih. Bot. Centralbl. 36: 36 (1918)]
Syns:
- Viola etbaica Schweinf.; Verh. Zool.-Bot. Ges. Wien. 8: (1868) 665
- Viola nubica Hutchinson; Broun & R. E. Massey, Fl. Sudan, 66 (1929)
- Viola somalensis Engl.; Abh. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. 1891 (1892) 308
- Viola stocksii Boiss.; Fl. Orient. 1: 435 (1867)
V. cinerea is sometimes mis-spelled V. cineria.
Some of those synonyms occur in various books on the flora of East Africa. I have not looked at this, but it sounds interesting:
Grey-Wilson, C. 1980. Notes on African Violaceae. Kew Bull. 36:125. And there is good info on V. abyssinica at http://www.kew.org/efloras/namedetail.do?flora=fz&taxon=499&nameid=1419. I was pleased to see Mt. Cameroon included as a location, because many years ago I read that Sir Richard Burton (the famous 19th century African explorer) noted a violet there (but he gave no more information about it). Now I know which species it was, probably.
Burton also mentioned Viola in his book 'To the Gold Coast for Gold', which covers more countries than just modern Ghana. In chapter VI, 'The routine ascent of Mount Atlas, the 'Pike' of Tenerife': "We searched in vain for M. Broussonet’s white violet (V. teydensis), ... and for the lilac-coloured Viola cheiranthifolia, akin to V. decumbens." So much to learn ! :)
Mike | 
