A small annual violet with creamy flowers whose petals are shorter than the green sepals, weed of cultivated ground
Field pansy - Viola arvensis.
Nature · Wildflowers & flowers
Field pansy
Archaeophyte · annual, flowers April to October · arable fields, verges, waste ground
Viola arvensis — Violaceae
Field pansy is the small, creamy-yellow annual violet of arable fields, verges and gardens. It is an ancient weed that came in with early farming. Its pale flowers, with petals shorter than the sepals, distinguish it from the larger-flowered, often violet wild pansy or heartsease, which is its close relative.
How to spot them
- ▸Small (6-15 mm) creamy-white to pale yellow flowers, often with purple or orange flush on the lower petals
- ▸Petals shorter than, or equal to, the green sepals
- ▸Leaves toothed, with large leafy stipules at the base of each stalk
- ▸Low, sprawling annual up to about 15 cm (occasionally more)
- ▸Look-alike: wild pansy (heartsease) has larger, 15-25 mm, purple-and-yellow flowers with petals longer than the sepals; hybrids occur
How to know it
Told from its larger, violet-and-yellow relative, whose petals are longer than the sepals, though the two hybridise
Field pansy (wild pansy, Viola tricolor, is the look-alike).
The English name of this plant and its garden relatives comes from the French for 'thought'; folk names include cat's face and three faces under a hood
Field pansy - pensée.
Classed as an archaeophyte, arriving with early agriculture and thriving on light, well-drained arable soils
Field pansy - BSBI.
As an annual it flowers, sets seed and dies in a single season, in disturbed ground from April to October
Field pansy - Wildlife Trusts.
Quick-fire facts
- •Family Violaceae; an annual violet
- •BSBI: an archaeophyte (pre-1500 introduction); commonest in England, Wales and eastern Scotland
- •Wildlife Trusts: flowers April to October; height up to 15 cm; lower petals may show an orange flush
- •Told from wild pansy by sepals longer than petals and flowers under 15 mm
- •Folk names for pansies: cat's face, three faces under a hood, heartsease, love-in-idleness
- •Pansy derives from French pensée, 'thought'
- •It hybridises with wild pansy, blurring the boundary between the two
- •Often found in cereal stubbles, potato crops and gardens, on disturbed ground
Drill it — 6 cards
1 / 6new card
Sources
- The Wildlife Trusts — Field pansy
- BSBI — Viola arvensis Murray, Field Pansy