Species fact sheet Pale Dog-violet Viola lactea Pale dog-violet is a member of the violet family (Violaceae). It has sparsely hairy creeping stems originating from a basal rosette of lanceolate leaves with rounded to wedge-shaped or truncate bases. Each stem supports one pale milky-violet to greyish- pink typical violet shaped flower. Distinguishing features between pale dog-violet and similar violets are: the flower colour; the short greenish spurs at the back of the flowers; and the triangular stipules at the base of each upper leaf being equal to or longer than the leaf stalks. This plant does hybridise, particularly with common dog-violet Viola riviniana. © TeunSpaans under Creative Commons BY-SA licence Lifecycle This perennial plant flowers in May and June each year. Buried seed is thought to have good longevity in the soil seed bank; sometimes germinating decades after it was shed from the parent plant. Habitat Pale dog-violet is a species of humid heathland and grass heath (including the culm grasslands), favouring areas with short vegetation and considerable bare ground created by burning, grazing or incidental disturbance such as rutting, turf or gorse cutting, trampling and so on. Distribution A species of humid heathland and grass heath in southern England, largely confined to key heathland districts including the Wealden and Thames Basin heaths, the New Forest and Dorset heaths, and through much of Devon and Cornwall (though seldom ever commonly). This heathland species had already experienced a severe decline prior to 1930, but this has continued and it has disappeared from much of its former range relatively recently, particularly in SE Pale dog-violet distribution across Britain England. Pale dog-violet is extinct in Kent, Surrey, and Ireland Middlesex and Buckinghamshire and there are no recent The data used to create these maps has records from Gloucestershire. There are also signs of a been provided under licence from the significant decline in this plant in the lowland heaths Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland of Devon and west Somerset. However new populations (BSBI) and accessed from the Society’s online distribution database. have recently been discovered in Wales. Pale dog-violet is also present in coastal locations around Ireland but is absent from Northern Ireland and Scotland. Pale Dog-violet Species Viola lactea fact sheet Habitat management for pale dog-violet Pale dog-violet is a poor competitor with other plants and requires GB Status and rarity open swards and some bare ground to survive. It is often found along It is classified as ‘Vulnerable’ in The lines of disturbance such as droves or at pinch-points in the landscape Vascular Plant Red Data List for Great where cattle movements have been channelled and patches of bare Britain 2005 due to the magnitude ground have been exposed. Efforts to maintain or reinstate traditional of the decline in its range and area management are key to the species survival within wet grass heath of occupation. It is a Nationally sites that have not been wholly destroyed. Conservation works include Scarce species. the reinstatement of heathland grazing with cattle and ponies to graze coarse grasses and shrubs, reduce the sward height and open up the vegetation through trampling to create patches of bare ground. Reasons for decline The grass heath habitat inhabited Re-establishment of traditional burning or ‘swaling’ regimes may also by pale dog-violet has been subject help this species by removing coarse vegetation and thatch that has to gross habitat destruction through built-up in the sward. Regular cutting and/or mowing can also be a afforestation (particularly coniferous useful management tool particularly on sites where burning or plantations) and conversion to arable grazing are not feasible. land, although this is a historical land use change and is not a current problem. Seeds of pale dog-violet can remain viable within the seed bank for The species’ greatest threat comes from decades (albeit often in small quantities), so any efforts to maintain the cessation of traditional management and reinstate burning and grazing on heathland are likely to benefit practices, notably winter swaling the species and may result in the reappearance of lost populations. (burning of dead grass and dwarf shrubs) This species would also benefit from landscape-scale acid grassland and traditional stock grazing, ideally by and heathland mosaic restoration and re-creation, linking existing cattle and/or ponies. fragmented habitat patches to create suitably managed larger blocks. Protection under the law Traditional burning or ‘swaling’ regimes may also help this species by removing course This plant is included as a species “of vegetation and thatch that has built-up in the sward. principal importance for the purpose of conserving biodiversity” under Section 41 (England) of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. Survey method Individual plants can be identified or where clumps of plants have formed it may be easier to measure the extent of the colony rather than attempt a census of individuals. © Herbthyme / Creative commons BY-SA 14 Rollestone Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP1 1DX. UK Tel: 01722 342730 [email protected] Funded by Natural England Speaking out for wild plants www.plantlife.org.uk Plantlife International - The Wild Plant Conservation Charity is a charitable company limited by guarantee. Registered in England and Wales, Charity Number: 1059559 Registered in Scotland, Charity Number: SC038951 Registered Company Number: 3166339. 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