Viola cornuta

Perennial of the Violaceae family, endemic to the Pyrenees and the north of the Iberian Peninsula. It occupies high-altitude meadows, cool prairies, and mountain pastures, generally between 1,000 and 2,400 meters, on various substrates, both calcareous and siliceous.

It forms low and spreading clumps, 10 to 20 cm in height, with slender stems and oval crenate leaves, of a fresh green. What immediately distinguishes this violet from neighboring species is its long, thin spur, distinctly marked at the back of the flower, which earned it its epithet cornuta.

The flowers, borne individually on fine peduncles, are a light violet-lilac to blue-mauve, with the two lower petals paler, almost white towards the throat, and the veins finely visible. This gradation of hue in the corolla, clearly visible here, is a distinctive characteristic of the species. The absence of a yellow mask at the center distinguishes it from cultivated pansies which are directly derived from it.

In its natural habitat, its flowering extends from June to August depending on the altitude. In cultivation, it can bloom as early as May and often in two waves if pruned after the first flowering.

It is the origin of many large-flowered pansy cultivars. In rock gardens or borders, it requires fresh, well-drained soil, in full sun or partial shade, and tolerates cold well.