Pansy, Sand

Information on Sand Pansy

Common Name: Sand Pansy
Scientific Name: Viola tricolor ssp. curtisii
Irish Name: Goirmín duimhche
Family Group: Violaceae
Distribution: View Map (Courtesy of the BSBI)
Flowering Period


Click for list of all flowering by month
Sand Pansy could sometimes be confused with:

Pansy, Wild, Pansy, Field,

A wildflower of dry grassland and sandy soil, this member of the well-loved Pansy family is a perennial plant with long-stalked yellow flowers (12-25mm across) which are larger than those of Viola arvensis or Field Pansy. There are two top petals, slightly overlapping, two wing-like side petals and a single larger petal.  Clearly marked paths lead pollinating insects into the centre of the flower over which is a translucent fringe.  Blooming from April to August, the petals are larger than the sepals and the flowers have short spurs.  The leaves are toothed, oval with a heart-shaped base and the leaf-like stipules are pinnately lobed.  This is a native plant, also known as Dune Pansy, and it belongs to the family Violaceae.

I first recorded this plant at Ballyteigue, Co Wexford in 2007 and I photographed it also.   

If you are satisfied you have correctly identified this plant, please submit your sighting to the National Biodiversity Data Centre

This is a subspecies for which Ireland holds or possibly holds more than 25% of the European population (Ireland Red List No. 10 Vascular Plants)

'Pansies' is the title of the best-known collection of poems by D H Lawrence (1885-1930).  The title is not in reference to these flowers but he takes it from the French word 'Pensées' or thoughts.  In the foreword he writes:    

"I wish these 'Pansies' to be taken as thoughts rather than anything else; casual thoughts that are true while they are true and irrelevant when the mood and circumstance changes. I should like them to be as fleeting as pansies, which wilt so soon, and are so fascinating with their varied faces, while they last."

Pansy, Sand
Pansy, Sand
Pansy, Sand
Pansy, Sand