In nature, there are a lot of different forms of wild violets, which differ from garden and indoor plants in size, color of leaves and flowers. One of the representatives of the Violet family is a dog violet, a photo of which is in front of you.
For what she received such a name is unknown. It is only clear that it is a literal translation of the Latin name into Russian. The people call this plant like this: birch, grass-exile, core, violet, forest bro.
Dog violet: a botanical description of a plant
The plant is interesting, although not too striking. It is a perennial 5-30 cm high. The rhizome is short. Flowers, as well as other violets, are five-membered. Petals are light purple or pale blue. On one stem there are several. Flowering continues from early spring to June. There are times when dog violet blooms repeatedly at the very end of summer.
Stem leaves with petioles, glabrous, sometimes slightly pubescent at the base. Root foliage begins to grow only after flowering. The leaves are ovoid or lanceolate, blunt. Stipules are fringed. The stems are numerous, erect or ascending, without basal rosettes. The whole plant is slightly hairy, sometimes bare.
Dog violet is a myrmecophile plant. After all, its seeds are pulled away by ants ("Mirmekos" in Greek) over long distances. The fruit ripens in June, when cracked, twisted leaves scatter seeds, which are equipped with a special body that attracts ants.
Violet can be considered self-pollinating. This is a group of plants in which the development of seeds occurs without an obvious flower, that is, it does not open. In violets, ordinary flowers bloom in spring, but there are those that are not visible at all.
Dog violet: places of growth
Like many other types of violets, for this wild plant, forest and marginal biotopes are a favorite place of growth. Its flowering can be observed in May, being at the edge of the forest or even in an open area along the banks of water bodies.
Dog violet prefers to grow in a meadow, on a dry sandy slope, in glades, along roadsides, near ponds. Mineral rich soils of bushes and deciduous forests are suitable for it. Most often, this violet is found in non-chernozem areas.
Area of dog violets
The geography of the genus is very wide. Violets can grow in temperate climates, in the subtropics, in the tropics. With such a large range, all violets are very similar when choosing habitats. In our forests, a species grows very similar to fragrant violet - dog violet. Its general distribution is Atlantic Europe, the countries of Central Europe and Scandinavia, the Caucasus, and the Northern Mediterranean. This plant is found everywhere in the European part of Russia, in Western and Eastern Siberia. The range of dog violets is also Belarus, Ukraine, some regions of Asia.
