# Viola riviniana

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***Viola riviniana***, the **common dog-violet**, is a species of flowering plant in the family Violaceae, native to Eurasia and Africa.[1] It is also called **wood violet**[1] and **[dog violet](/source/Dog_violet)**.[1] 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 10 cm (3.9 in) tall and 50 cm (20 in) broad, this prostrate [perennial](/source/Perennial) has dark green, heart-shaped leaves and produces multiple violet coloured flowers in May and June.[2]

*Viola riviniana* was voted the [county flower](/source/County_flowers_of_the_United_Kingdom) of [Lincolnshire](/source/Lincolnshire) in 2002, following a poll by the wild plant conservation charity [Plantlife](/source/Plantlife).[3]

## Distribution

Common in Ireland[4] and all the British Isles.[5]

## Wildlife value

It is the food plant of the [pearl bordered fritillary](/source/Pearl_bordered_fritillary), [small pearl-bordered fritillary](/source/Small_pearl-bordered_fritillary), [silver-washed fritillary](/source/Silver-washed_fritillary) and [high brown fritillary](/source/High_brown_fritillary) butterflies.

It is a known host of the [pathogenic fungus](/source/Pathogenic_fungus) *[Puccinia violae](/source/Puccinia_violae)*.[6]

## Similar species

- *[Viola odorata](/source/Viola_odorata)* (sweet violet) – fragrant; all the leaves are located at the base of the plant; stipules are gland-tipped
- *[Viola canina](/source/Viola_canina)* (heath dog violet) – clear blue flowers; narrower leaves; smaller teeth on the stipules
- *[Viola palustris](/source/Viola_palustris)* (marsh violet) – found in wet places; leaves are kidney-shaped; grows from underground creeping stems; dark-veined flowers; stipules without teeth
- *[Viola labradorica](/source/Viola_labradorica)* (alpine violet) – *V. riviniana* is sometimes sold by nurseries as *V. labradorica*

## Hybrids

This species hybridises with [early dog-violet](/source/Viola_reichenbachiana) (*V. reichenbachiana*) to produce *Viola* × *bavarica*.

## References

1. ["*Viola riviniana*"](https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/19012/Viola-riviniana/Details). *www.rhs.org*. Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 5 March 2021.

1. Plantlife website [*County Flowers page*](http://www.plantlife.org.uk/wild_plants/county_flowers/) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20150430170312/http://www.plantlife.org.uk/wild_plants/county_flowers/) 2015-04-30 at the Wayback Machine

1. Webb, D.A., Parnell, J., and Doogue, D. 1996. *An Irish Flora*. University Press. ISBN 0-85221-131-7

1. Clapham, A.R., Tutin, T.G. and Warburg, E.F. 1968. *Excursion Flora of the British Isles*. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-04656-4

1. Helgi Hallgrímsson & Guðríður Gyða Eyjólfsdóttir (2004). [*Íslenskt sveppatal I - smásveppir* \[Checklist of Icelandic Fungi I - Microfungi](https://rafhladan.is/bitstream/handle/10802/4090/Fjolrit_45.pdf?sequence=1). Fjölrit Náttúrufræðistofnunar. Náttúrufræðistofnun Íslands [Icelandic Institute of Natural History]. ISSN 1027-832X

## Further reading

- Partridge, James (2007) *Viola × bavarica*: the punctual Dog-violet *[BSBI News](/source/BSBI_News)* 106:8–9 (illustrated with colour photographs on inside back cover of this edition)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Viola riviniana](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_riviniana) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viola_riviniana?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.