Pale Dog Violet ( Viola lactea) is a rare violet in County Cork and Lough Allua is its only inland site, with some costal records from the Mizen and Sheeps Head peninsulas (ref BSBI maps).
On this years visit on 10th May only one plant was found but non flowering plants would have been easy to miss and V lactea tends to flower later than other violets into June.
Almost pure white flower with a hint of violet, upper petals tend to be quite thin 2-3 times as long as wide. A feature which is mentioned in the new BSBI Viola Handbook is the lower petal has slight point to it (apiculate tip) and this is clearly shown in this photo. I have not seen that in feature in other species and this a new feature to look for. The veins on the lower petal have clear purple veins with quite a lot of branching and no blurring. They are also quite long reaching about 75% down the petal before fading out.
All this looks good for a pure 100% Pale Dog Violet.
Side view of same flower showing pale yellow green spur, notched and quite short in length. Sepal appendages are just longer than stem thickness , estimate about 1.2 mm so are not as large as in Heath Dog Violet. Sepals are pointed as in all Dog Violets. Again all looks good.
Photo of whole plant showing leaves with tapered base ( cunate base) and apiculate tip ( broad point at tip). Leaf texture is thick and some slight purple veins showing but not as prominent as on some plants. The purple veins can also occur in Common Dog Violet.
Final shot shows habitat. Pale Dog Violet grows in gaps in the longer vegetation between the wet waterlogged shallow lake and the Gorse covered bank. This area is not the edge of main Lough Allua but a backwater.
A hundred meters south on the main Lough the violets are a different story, with Heath Dog Violets on the shore and Common Dog Violets on the dryer ground plus complications with hybrids.
Peter Leonard
16th May 2017
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