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Originally Posted by davidbr  I'm hoping someone might be able to help me sort out some confusion regarding garden pansy hybrids 
Up until now I'd always assumed that regardless of flower size/colour etc, all Garden Pansies were lumped together under Viola x wittrockiana. But now, on some seed suppliers' websites, I've come across two more hybrids, Viola x hybrida & Viola x williamsii, which they seem to be using for the smaller-flowered pansies known in gardening circles as "violas"
I can't find any information on these new crosses, or even which species they originate from; they're not listed on the BSBI database, or anything like that. Help!! |
According to various sources that I have looked at the Garden Pansy (
Viola x wittrockiana) is either the triple hybrid between
V. altaica, V. tricolor and
V. lutea or is derived from the cross between
V. arvensis & V. tricolor. This is the plant horticulturally called the Pansy.
The plant grown as the Viola or Bedding Viola is apparently the cross between
V. x wittrockiana and
V. cornuta and is usually called
V. x hybrida. I had never come across
V. x williamsii before but apparently the name has been around since 1897 and refers to the same plant. I am not sure which name has priority.