''Viola riviniana'', the common dog-violet, is a species of flowering plant in the family Violaceae, native to Eurasia and Africa. It is also called wood violet and

dog violet Dog violet is the common name for various species of the plant genus ''Viola'' with unscented flowers. The term arose to differentiate them from the scented sweet violet. Species so named include: *''Viola canina'' – heath dog violet *'' Viola l ...

. It inhabits woodland edges, grassland and shady hedge banks. It is found in all soils except those which are acid or very wet. Growing to tall and broad, this prostrate

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wid ...

has dark green, heart-shaped leaves and produces multiple violet coloured flowers in May and June. ''Viola riviniana'' was voted the

county flower In a number of countries, plants have been chosen as symbols to represent specific geographic areas. Some countries have a country-wide floral emblem; others in addition have symbols representing subdivisions. Different processes have been used to ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

in 2002, following a poll by the wild plant conservation charity

Plantlife Plantlife is the international conservation membership charity working to secure a world rich in wild plants and fungi. It is the only UK membership charity dedicated to conserving wild plants and fungi in their natural habitats and helping peo ...

Distribution

Common in Ireland and all the British Isles.Clapham, A.R., Tutin, T.G. and Warburg, E.F. 1968. ''Excursion Flora of the British Isles''. Cambridge University Press.

Wildlife value

It is the food plant of the pearl bordered fritillary,

small pearl-bordered fritillary ''Boloria selene'', known in Europe as the small pearl-bordered fritillary and in North America as the silver-bordered fritillary, is a species of butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found across Europe, Asia and North America, and feeds ...

silver-washed fritillary The silver-washed fritillary (''Argynnis paphia'') is a common and variable butterfly found over much of the Palearctic realm – Algeria, Europe, temperate Asia, and Japan. Description The silver-washed fritillary butterfly is deep orange with ...

and

high brown fritillary ''Fabriciana adippe'', the high brown fritillary, is a large and brightly colored butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, native to Europe and across the Palearctic to Japan. It is known for being Great Britain's most threatened butterfly and is li ...

butterflies. It is a known host of the pathogenic fungus '' Puccinia violae''.Helgi Hallgrímsson & Guðríður Gyða Eyjólfsdóttir (2004)
''Íslenskt sveppatal I - smásveppir'' [Checklist of Icelandic Fungi I - Microfungi
Fjölrit Náttúrufræðistofnunar. Náttúrufræðistofnun Íslands [Icelandic Institute of Natural History]. ISSN 1027-832X

Similar species

* ''Viola odorata'' (sweet violet) – fragrant; all the leaves are located at the base of the plant; stipules are gland-tipped * ''Viola canina'' (heath dog violet) – clear blue flowers; narrower leaves; smaller teeth on the stipules * ''

Viola palustris ''Viola palustris'' (marsh violet, or alpine marsh violet) is a perennial forb of the genus ''Viola''. It inhabits moist meadows, marshes, and stream banks in northern parts of North America and Eurasia. The species epithet ''palustris'' is Latin ...

'' (marsh violet) – found in wet places; leaves are kidney-shaped; grows from underground creeping stems; dark-veined flowers; stipules without teeth * '' Viola labradorica'' (alpine violet) – ''V. riviniana'' is sometimes sold by nurseries as ''V. labradorica''

Hybrids

This species hybridises with early dog-violet (''V. reichenbachiana'') to produce ''Viola'' × ''bavarica''.

References

External links