|
|
Species of the Month - April 2015 Marsh Violet Viola palustris
The Marsh
Violet likes wet acid ground and so it is very much at home in most of
Argyll. It's found in damp moorland, marshes and rushy hillsides,
also in wet woodland and alongside tracks.
The
flowers are paler and smaller than those of the Dog Violet, which is the
common spring-flowering violet that you see everywhere. The top
two petals of Marsh Violet are bent back and the anthers form an orange
blob in the centre of the flower. The spur at the back of the
flower is much shorter than in Dog Violet and is usually the same colour
as the rest of the flower (see pic above right). Dog Violet has a
long spur which is normally a whitish colour, paler than the rest of the
flower.
This photo shows Dog Violet and Marsh Violet growing together. The Dog Violet is the one at the back, with a larger, darker flower and petals not bent back. Its leaves are pointed, as seen along the bottom of the picture. The large rounded leaves in the picture belong to Marsh Violet, as do the paler flowers. The
flowering stem of Marsh Violet has a couple of small bracts on it, but no
leaves. The plant's leaves and stems arise separately from a
creeping rootstock. Dog Violet does not have a creeping
rootstock and its flowers arise on branches that also have leaves.
A patch
of Marsh Violet growing among Sphagnum in woodland. Please send in your Marsh Violet sightings
using the form below, or email sightings@lnhg.org.uk
with the details if you prefer. If you are not sure of the
identity of your plant, please send a photo to sightings@lnhg.org.uk,
or put one on the
LNHG Facebook page. By filling in this form you agree that the information contained in this form may be collated and disseminated manually or electronically for environmental decision-making, education, research and other public benefit uses in accordance with the LNHG data access policy. Your email address will not form part of the record and will not be passed on to anyone.
Carl Farmer
Note you can still send in
records for past species of the month. Here is the list of species
we've had so far:
Mar 2015 - Hebrew Character
|
|
