Violet Family [Violaceae] |
status
flower
inner
morph
petals
type
stem
26th May 2015, Chelmorton, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
Grows on mountain grassland preferring lime (as here at 415m above sea level, but at up to 1050m). |
26th May 2015, Chelmorton, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
A single flower atop an upright but crooked (at the top) and leafless stem up to 20cm high. |
26th May 2015, Chelmorton, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
Usually the flowers are all-yellow, but often all blue-violet, or with 2 yellow petals at the top and three blue-violet ones at the bottom. |
26th May 2015, Chelmorton, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
Whatever colour they are, they have dark cat's whisker like markings on the lower 3 petals. |
26th May 2015, Chelmorton, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
The two upper petals are separated from the lower three by a short white cylindrical section. Flowers are larger than other pansies, between 20 - 35mm from top to bottom. |
26th May 2015, Chelmorton, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
Leaves similar to other Pansies, variable sizes, oval, the larger having forwardly-directed blunt-teeth. |
26th May 2015, Chelmorton, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
Purple-indigo coloured sepals enclose un-opened flowers. Leaves with short white hairs. |
26th May 2015, Chelmorton, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
The five dark-purple sepals give the appearance of a sharpened pencil. Not hairy leaves. |
26th May 2015, Chelmorton, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
The sepals have shorter 'appendages' at the rear. |
26th May 2015, Chelmorton, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
The spur of the flower (deep purple and on the left of the grooved violet stem in this photo) is said to be three-times longer than the sepal appendages (top of photo) on Mountain Pansy. Flower still not yet opened. |
26th May 2015, Chelmorton, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
Purple flower spur (far right) 3x longer than sepal appendages. There are five sepals altogether; two each side and one hiding from this photo at the top. |
26th May 2015, Chelmorton, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
Sepals and spur in close-up. |
26th May 2015, Chelmorton, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
Flower spur directed upwards, three sepals for the upper 4 petals, and two sepals parallel to the flower-stem (at least they are in this photo) |
26th May 2015, Chelmorton, Derbyshire. | Photo: © RWD |
In this photo spur curved and pointing upwards, plus 5 sepals and their appendages all over the place (in this photo). |
Easily mis-identified as : other Pansies such as Wild Pansy (Viola tricolor). Hybridizes with :
Mountain Pansy is a native, perennial flower which spreads by slender rhizomes. The pollen grains usually have four pores, but a microscope is needed to see them. It grows in upland grassland pastures, rocky places preferring limey soils or heavy metalliferous soils such as ultramafic (serpentinic) or calamine soils, growing up to 1050m above sea level. However, it seems that they are not Metallophytes, but rather excluders of heavy metals in the soils. Those Mountain Volets which do grow in calamine soils should be treated as Viola lutea ssp. calaminaria.
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Viola | lutea | ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ | Violaceae |
Viola (Violas) |
Violet Family [Violaceae] |