Fen violet (Viola persicifolia)

This speices is perhaps the rarest ⁽⁵⁾, and most beautiful of all our native violets ⁽⁶⁾. The fragile looking flowers are bluish-white in colour and usually have a sheen reminiscent of mother-of-pearl ⁽⁶⁾.

Size

Height: up to 25 cm ⁽²⁾

The fen violet is a short-lived perennial species ⁽⁶⁾, which begins to flower in May ⁽²⁾ and has an unpredictable pattern of occurrence ⁽⁵⁾. The seeds are known to be resilient and need disturbance of the ground to allow them to germinate ⁽²⁾.

Once known from a number of locations in the south of Britian, the fen violet is now restricted to a single site in Oxfordshire ⁽²⁾ and just two sites in Cambridgeshire; Wicken Fen and Woodwalton Fen ⁽⁵⁾. The species occurs in Continental Europe, where it is also rare ⁽²⁾.

You can view distribution information for this species at the National Biodiversity Network Gateway.

Inhabits damp habitats such as fens, in short calcareous grass with a tendency to flood in winter and where there is occasional grazing or disturbance. ⁽⁶⁾.

Classified as Endangered in Great Britain ⁽³⁾, and fully protected under Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981 ⁽⁴⁾.

Habitat loss, drainage and inapropriate management of fenland sites have contributed to the decline of this violet ⁽⁵⁾.

The fen violet is included in English Nature's Species Recovery Programme. English Nature is funding a monitoring programme for the species, and seed has been collected for the Millenium Seed Bank at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, and for the University of Oxford's Botanic Garden ⁽²⁾. There are plans to introduce the species to a site where it can be appreciated by the public ⁽²⁾. Both of the Cambridgeshire sites where fen violet occurs are National Nature Reserves ⁽⁵⁾, and the species is fully protected under Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 ⁽⁴⁾.

There may be further information about this species available via the National Biodiversity Network Gateway.

Information authenticated by Plantlife, the wild plant conservation charity:
http://www.plantlife.org.uk

Calcareous

Containing free calcium carbonate, chalky.

Perennial

Plants that live for at least three seasons; after an initial period they produce flowers once a year.

1. Hilton-Taylor, C. (compiler) 2000. 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. xviii + 61pp. Downloaded on 21 March 2002 http://www.redlist.org
2. UK Gateway. (March 2002): http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/gateway
3. Wigginton, M. J. (1999) British Red Data Books 1; Vascular Plants. 3rd Edition. JNCC, Peterborough.
4. JNCC. (March 2002): www.jncc.gov.uk/species/protect/plants.htm
5. Wicken Fen (March 2002): www.demon.co.uk/ecoln/wicken_fen/sprecov.html#viola
6. Mabey, R. (1996) Flora Britannica. Sinclair-Stevenson, London