Family: Violaceae Viola riviniana     *     Common Dog-violet Flowering time: March-May, sometimes again August-October. Perennial Habitat: Common throughout Britain and Ireland in woods, among grassland and on banks and roadsides Scentless violet-blue flowers with branched purple veins on lower petals and a notched, pale violet or whitish spur. Followed by 3-angled, 3-seeded fruit. Flowers on leafy shoots rising from a central leaf-rosette. Leaves are long-stalked, cordate (heart-shaped) with toothed stipules. Frequently hybridises with other violet species. Viola riviniana var.nemorosa has a dark-violet spur. Similar: Early Dog-violet, V. reichenbachiana, straight, un-notched spur darker than the petals

Common Dog-violet, Viola riviniana
Dorset. May 2013