vi·o·la 2 
(vī-ōlə, vē-, vīə-lə)
(vī-ōlə, vē-, vīə-lə)n.
Any of various plants of the genus Viola, which includes the violets and pansies, especially certain ornamental varieties that are usually more compact than pansies and have smaller flowers without a blotch on the petals.
[Middle English, from Latin; akin to Greek ion (both Greek and Latin from a common unknown Mediterranean source ).]