European field pansy is a small wild pansy whose flowers are mostly creamy white with a yellow center, with about as long as the petals. Native to Europe, western Asia, and North Africa, it is now a weed of farm fields and roadsides across much of the US.
Appearance
- Growth form
- An annual, usually 4–12 in (10–30 cm) tall, with several stems branching from the base.
- Leaves
- Leaves have rounded teeth. At each leaf base sits a deeply divided whose end lobe is large and leaflike.
- Flowers
- Flowers are about ½–¾ in (10–20 mm) across, cream with a yellow throat; the upper petals are sometimes tipped with purple. The sepals are about as long as, or longer than, the petals.
- Flowering time
- Mainly March through July, sometimes into August.
- Fruit
- A smooth capsule ¼–⅜ in (5–10 mm) long that splits into three parts.
Look-alikes
Where it lives
- Typical habitats
- Crop fields
- Roadsides
- Railroad edges
- Meadows
- Waste ground
- Range
- Introduced and found across much of North America, from the East Coast and Great Lakes states to the Pacific Northwest and California. Botanists think it is more widespread than range maps show.
- Preferred conditions
- Sunny, disturbed ground such as cultivated fields, meadows, and roadsides.
- Flowering
Flowers Mar–Jul
Flowers Mar–Jul
Life cycle
- Reproduction
- Spreads by seed. Bees visit the flowers, but it also often pollinates itself.
Name and classification
- About the name
- It has been treated in the past as a variety of Johnny-jump-up (Viola tricolor var. arvensis).
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