Pale lilac, faintly veined flowers hover on thin stalks above kidney-shaped leaves in a wet, mossy bog
Marsh violet, Viola palustris.
Nature · Wildflowers & flowers
Marsh violet
Native · flowers Apr–Jul · marshes, bogs and wet woodland on acid soils
Viola palustris — Violaceae
A low, creeping violet of wet, acidic ground, with kidney-shaped, glossy leaves and pale lilac, dark-veined flowers that lack any scent. It is widespread in the north and west, local in the south and east, and very rare in central England. It is a food plant of the small pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly.
How to spot them
- ▸Pale lilac flowers, veined darker, resembling a faded pansy, on stalks arising directly from the ground — there is no leafy stem
- ▸Rounded to kidney-shaped, hairless leaves up to a few centimetres across
- ▸Low, up to about 10 cm tall, creeping by runners through sphagnum and wet moss
- ▸Grows in bogs, marshes, fens and wet woodland on acid soils
- ▸Look-alike: common dog-violet has a leafy stem, heart-shaped pointed leaves and deeper blue-violet flowers; sweet violet is scented
How to know it
The caterpillar of the small pearl-bordered fritillary, a declining butterfly, feeds on this scentless wetland violet
Marsh violet, per the Wildlife Trusts.
Widespread in the north and west of the UK, local in the south and east and very rare in central England
Marsh violet.
Unlike the common dog-violet it has no leafy stem, and its flowers are pale and unscented
Marsh violet.
A violet of acidic marshes, bogs and wet woods, low-growing to about 10 cm
Marsh violet.
Quick-fire facts
- •Family Violaceae, the violet family
- •Wildlife Trusts: flowers April to July, up to 10 cm tall, damp acidic marshes, bogs and wet woodland
- •Widespread in the north and west of the UK, local in the south and east and very rare in central England (Wildlife Trusts)
- •A larval food plant of the small pearl-bordered fritillary, itself a declining UK priority species
- •Spreads by creeping runners
- •Its flowers are scentless — unlike sweet violet
- •Native
Drill it — 6 cards
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Sources
- The Wildlife Trusts — Marsh violet