Viola riviniana, Viola broussonetiana, Viola insularis,
SE: Skogsviol, DE: Hain-Veilchen,
NL: Bosviooltje, UK: Common Dog-violet

Scientific name:  Viola riviniana Rchb.
Synonym name:  Viola broussonetiana Roem. & Schult., Viola insularis Gren. & Godr.
Swedish name:  Skogsviol
German name:  Hain-Veilchen
Nederlandse naam:  Bosviooltje
English name:  Common Dog-violet
Family:  Violaceae, Violväxter

Sweden Wildflowers, Bloemen in Zweden

Life form:  Perennial, rhizomes
Stems:  Height 5–20 cm, leafy, branched, usually glabrous (sometimes sparsely hairy)
Leaves:  Basal non-flowering rosette; Heart shaped leaves, about as long as broad, with rounded teeth and are usually hairless
Flowers:  2 slender bracts, 6 sepals spear shaped lobed at the base, 5 overlapping violet petals with a long backward pointing spur which is notched at the end; lower petal white at innermost end, with area of dark vertical veins just below this.
Flowering Period:  April, May, June
Fruits:  Glabrous, 3-valved capsule
Habitat:  humus-rich forests, orchards, roadsides and meadows hills.

Flowers Sweden


Derivation of the botanical name:
Viola, a classical Latin name for violets.
Riviniana, in honor of Augustus Quirinus Rivinus (1652 - 1723), also known as August Bachmann, a German physician and botanist.
broussonetiana, named for Pierre Marie August Broussonet (1761 - 1807), Professor of Botany at Montpellier, France
insularis, pertaining to an island.
  • The standard author abbreviation Rchb. is used to indicate Heinrich Gottlieb Ludwig Reichenbach (1793 – 1879), a German botanist and ornithologist.
  • The standard author abbreviation Roem. is used to indicate Johann Jakob Roemer (1763 – 1819), a Swiss physician, entomologist and professor of botany in Zurich, Switzerland.
  • The standard author abbreviation Schult. is used to indicate Josef (Joseph) August Schultes (1773 - 1831), an Austrian botanist and professor in Vienna.
  • The standard author abbreviation Gren is used to indicate Jean Charles Marie Grenier (1808 – 1875), a French botanist, professor of botany to the Faculty of Sciences at Besançon.
  • The standard author abbreviation Godr. is used to indicate Dominique Alexandre Godron (1807 – 1880), a French physician and botanist.

Viola riviniana, Viola broussonetiana, Viola insularis, SE: Skogsviol, DE: Hain-Veilchen, NL: Bosviooltje, UK: Common Dog-violet


Botany, Wildflowers