Viola sororia, known commonly as the common blue violet, is a stemless herbaceous perennial plant that is native to eastern North America. It is known by a number of common names, including common meadow violet, purple violet, the lesbian flower, woolly blue violet, hooded violet, and wood violet. It is the state flower of Illinois, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Wisconsin. Self-seeding freely, in lawns and gardens it can become a weed. Cleistogamous seed heads may also appear on short stems in late summer and early autumn.