Viola tricolor (wild pansy) is a small plant, rarely reaching beyond 6 inches in height. It can be found in the wild in many parts of Europe. It looks similar to the cultivated Pansy plants many people will be familiar with, but has smaller flowers and leaves.

Indeed, Viola tricolor was the progenitor of cultivated Pansy plants and because of this, we also refer to it by its common name of ‘wild pansy’.