Common name:
Dame's violet
Family:
Scientific name:
Hesperis matronalis
Main flower color:
Range:
Most of the UK, a naturalised species
Height:
Up to 90 cm
Habitat:
Field margins, verges, hedgebanks, riverbanks
Flowers:
Up to 20 mm in diameter; four white to pale pink petals and four much shorter, greenish-purple sepals, covered with silky hairs; formed in a dense, terminal cluster
Fruit:
Narrow, cylindrical pods, up to 9 cm long, angled upwards
Leaves:
Stalked, narrowly lanceolate, with a tapered, pointed tip, a covering of short hairs, and tiny, well-separated teeth along the margins
Season:
May to August
Rarity:
★★★★★
