How small is smaller? Is it just the hot weather? Is it the shade?
*Beads of sweat appear on your forehead*
During our Worcestershire Flora Group meeting at Alfrick, I collected a suspected smaller cat’s-tail Phleum bertolonii to measure back at home, tea in hand. Attendee Sam Groves kindly curated some typical Timothy Phleum pratense, so I took both back for comparison. As we suspected, we had both species.
This was a fun learning experience, so I’ll leave it here for future use, for a sweaty-browed botanist somewhere…
Comparison of Phleum bertolonii and Phleum pratense
In principal, P. bertolonii is smaller in all parts and stature (10-50cm) than P. pratense. It’s important to sample and measure many of the floral parts to make a true determination.
In the simplest terms, if a plant is short, has spikelets (including awns) less than 3.6mm long, panicles 3-6mm wide and leaves 2-6mm wide, you have P. bertolonii. Below, I’ve provided the differences as listed by Stace, the measurements of our specimens and photo comparisons. Enjoy!
P. bertolonii
P. pratense
1. Spikelet and awn lengths
2-3.6 (3.8)mm including awns 0.2-1 (1.2)mm
(3.5)4-5.5mm including awns (0.8) 1-2mm
2. Panicle width
3-6 (6.7) mm
5-10mm
3. Leaf width
2-6mm
3-9mm
4. Ligule shape (usually)
Acute
Obtuse
Our specimens of P. bertolonii had:
Spikelets around 2-2.5mm, with a short awn around 0.5mm.
Panicle width of ~ 5mm
Leaf width of 2mm
By comparison, our specimen of P. pratense had:
Spikelets ~ 5mm, with a longer awn around 1.5-2mm
Panicle width of ~8mm
Leaf width of 6mm
Comparison Photos
Spikelet and awns
Left: P. bertolonii 2-2.5mm, short awn c. 0.5mm. Right: P. pratense 5mm, longer awn
Paniclewidth
Left: P. bertolonii, 5mm wide. Right: Phleum pratense ~8mm wide.
Leaf width
Left: P. bertolonii leaf width of 2mm. Right: P. pratense leaf width of 6mm
All of which fit well within the specifications given in Stace.
I was super excited to come across Narrow-leaved Water-dropwortOenanthe silaifolia yesterday whilst doing a recce for our in-house floodplain meadow training at Upton Ham.
Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort Oenanthe silaifolia at Upton Ham, Worcestershire. 02.06.26.
This species is nationally scarce, and we’re lucky to have a few good populations on the Worcestershire floodplains or ‘Hams’ along the River Severn. The Oenanthe genus can be scary, but Narrow-leaved Water-dropwort does what it says on the tin, and can be identified by checking for the following:
🌿 Are the peduncles longer than the rays? Yes. This step rules out O. aquatica and O. fluviatilis
🌿 Leaves – are they all made up of linear leaflets? Yes. Be sure to rummage around the base, to be extra certain that the basal leaves are also linear. This rules out any broader leaved species such as O. crocata.
🌿 Leaflet / petiole ratio – is the divided part of the leaf longer than the petiole? Yes. This rules out O. fistulosa, whose petiole is longer than the divided part.
🌿 Are the umbels separate from each other in fruit – with gaps between each? Yes. This rules out O. pimpinelloides, whose heads are dense and flat-topped in fruit.
🌿 Bracts – are there 0-1 bracts? Yes. This distinction rules out O. lachenalii, which has several bracts and is most likely to be confused with O. silaifolia.
Kerching, you have found Narrow-leaved Water-dropwortOenanthe silaifolia, please report to the LERC for your free lollipop!
Two similar sedges to look out for in woodlands in May are Wood-sedge Carex sylvatica and Thin-spiked Wood-sedge Carex strigosa. They sometimes grow together, even side-by-side (Shrawley Woods) but are relatively straight-forward to tell apart.
Left: Wood-sedge Carex sylvatica Right: Thin-spiked Wood-sedge Carex strigosa. Note the ‘floppy’ appearance of C. strigosa
Wood sedgeCarex sylvatica has utricles which gradually taper to a long beak, has narrower, more ridged leaves and the ligule is symmetrical.
Thin-spiked wood-sedgeCarex strigosa has a thinner female spike (who would have thought?) has stubby utricles with a short beak, floppier, broader leaves and has an asymmetric ligule (see Plant Crib).
Assignment Challenge yourself to find some Thin-spiked Wood-sedge this week, it’s overlooked and could be lurking in a woodland waiting for you to find it! If you want to see them both side-by-side, Shrawley Woods is a good spot to visit. #carex #botany #worcestershire
At this time of year, we have more in common with plants than you think. The warmth of the spring sunshine feels like it brings us to life after a long winter, as much as it does them. Amongst the first wildflowers that catch the eye, in striking purple, are the violets.
There are around 14 different species of violet in Britain (Stace, 2019), but one of the first to flower is Sweet Violet Viola odorata. The other early emerger is the aptly named Early Dog-violet Viola reichenbachiana.
But how do you separate a Sweet Violet from a Dog-violet?
Sweet Violet vs. Dog-Violets
It’s really quite easy, and we do this by looking at the sepals.Study the photo below for a quick overview of violet flower anatomy before reading on.
Violet flower anatomy showing the spur, sepal and sepal appendage.
If you study the sepals in the photos below, you will see that Sweet Violet Viola odorata has blunt sepals, much like the end of your thumb. Whereas Dog-violets Viola spp. have pointed sepals, like a dog’s tooth.
1. Sweet Violet Viola odorata has blunt sepals, much like the end of your thumb.2. Dog-violets Viola spp. have pointed sepals, like a dog’s tooth.
Variations of Sweet Violet
Now that we can confidently separate sweet from the dogs, let’s have a look at some common colour varieties of Sweet Violet that I’ve recorded this spring. I have started by listing varieties I have seen and photographed, and then put additional varieties of that colour type in bullet points below.
Pink form Viola odorata var. subcarnea. Tontine, Stourport-on-Severn. 19.03.26.
Checklist
var. dumetorum (white, hair tufts)
var. imberbis (white, no hair tufts)
f. lilacina (white with violet veins)
var. ‘leucoium’ as per A.C. Leslie (Porter and Foley, 2017)
var. subcarnea (pink/red, no hair tufts)
var. odorata (typical form, as above)
var. praecox (closed flowers, violet)
var. sulfurea (apricot/yellow flowers)
Much of the information below is based on the ‘Violas of Britain and Ireland‘ by Michael Porter and Michael Foley. If you enjoy Violet hunting, then be sure to grab yourself a copy to support the authors.
White Varieties
Viola odorata var. dumetorum
The most frequently encountered variety near me is one of the white forms, named Viola odorata var. dumetorum. It has a white corolla and a purple spur. There are also small tufts of hair on the inside edge of the lateral petals (below right). St. Peter’s Church, Martley.
Viola odorata var. dumetorumViola odorata var. dumetorum
Viola odorata var. imberbis
Another white form, which I encounter less frequently, is Viola odorata var. imberbis. According to Violas of Britain and Ireland, this variety is more typically found on calcareous soils. I’ve mostly encountered it at the base of trees! This variety has a white corolla, a pinkish spur and lacks the tufts of hairs on the lateral petals. Entrance to Hartlebury Castle, Hartlebury. 14.03.26.
Viola odorata var. imberbisViola odorata var. imberbis
Other white-coloured varieties:
var. ‘leucoium’ as per A.C. Leslie (Porter and Foley, 2017)
f. lilacina (white with violet veins)
Pink Varieties
Viola odorata var. subcarnea
I’ve only come across one pink coloured Sweet Violet, and that was Viola odorata var. subcarnea. This variety is thought to be a pink form of var. imberbis. It has a pink corolla with a violet spur, and lacks the hairs on the lateral petals. Seen at the base of an old cherry, near the Tontine in Stourport-on-Severn.
Where I found it, it was growing with var. imberbis at the base of a cherry tree, and some plants were intermediate in character, and showed a mixed colouration to the petals (below).
Viola odorata var. subcarneaViola odorata var. subcarneaLeft: var. imberbis | Right: var. subcarneaIntermediate form of var. subcarnea / var. imberbis. Tontine, Stourport-on-Severn. 19.03.26.
Violet Varieties
Viola odorata var. odorata
This is the typical violet-coloured Sweet Violet. Surprisingly, I seem to see this the least! Maybe I am not looking hard enough. Both the corolla and spur of this variety come in many shades of violet (as below), and it has tufts of hair on the lateral petals. Seen at St. Peter’s Church, Martley and Charlton Mill, Hartlebury.
Other violet coloured varieties
var. praecox (flowers mostly closed)
Yellow Varieties
Viola odorata var. sulfurea
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find any of the yellow V. odorata var. sulfurea yet…
This variety has apricot-yellow corollas with a pink spur and usually has tufts of hairs on the lateral petals (Porter and Foley, 2017). If I find any after the publication of this post, I will return and update with the photos and location.
If you have seen any yellow or apricot forms of Sweet Violet, I would love to hear from you!
This post has been super fun to put together, checking out the different violets on my hands and knees, looking for tufts of hair, and getting excited over a species so ubiquitous has been a lovely way to start off the season. I hope this encourages you to go out and look more closely at your local violets, in churchyards, hedgerows, gardens and lanesides.
Happy Violet Hunting,
Tom
References
Porter, M. and Foley, M. (2017) Violas of Britain and Ireland. Bristol: Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland.
Stace, C.A. (2019) New Flora of the British Isles. 4th edn. Middlewood Green: C & M Floristics.
