Has anyone ever...

[Wordbender]

...seen water violets growing high and dry? The ones I saw this weekend were thriving close to the edge of a lake I haunt fairly frequently, but they were growing on ground that, whilst on the 'marshy' side, never floods. Yet, every book I have shows the water violet standing in the wet stuff and living up to its name. Most odd.

While I'm here...can I also impose on the good botanists of this forum to clear up the mystery of the mauve/white, groundcover plant that flourishes on almost every sunny roadside verge and central reservation in the South-East. All the evidence I have points directly to this plant being Danish scurvy grass, but the books tell me it's a plant of coastal regions. Again, I'm most puzzled by this, sad creature that I am.

Hope you can help put an ol' countryboy's mind to rest.

[nightshade]

A lot of plants will grow where they fall,water recedes, woods are cut down It is interesting how plants survive

[Tiggrx]

The very few times I have ever seen Water Violets they have been growing in water, but according to 'Aquatic Plants in Britain & Ireland' by CD Preston & JM Croft

'This species is confined to small, sheltered, lowland water bodies, where it grows submerged in shallow water or as a terrestrial form at the water's edge'.

As for the Danish Scurvy-grass, this is now rather common on road-verges (especially central reservations) in many parts of Britain. It has spread from coastal areas due to the salting of road verges. Other coastal plants have also started to spread along these roads but the Danish Scurvy-grass seems to have got the furthest.

Hope this has answered your questions - and welcome to WAB!

[Wordbender]

Thanks for the replies, chaps, and especially the scurvy grass explanation which makes perfect sense and will allow me to 'remove a tight shoe' for sure.

As for the water violet, well I've finally solved that one, too. The plants I'm looking at are cuckoo flowers, otherwise known as ladies smock. I think the flash photography used on the specimens in my books had a bleaching effect on the petals, making them appear white rather than violet. I'm now sure of their I.D. having done a deal of Googling, and I can sleep the sleep of the satisfied mind.

Sad I know, but that's how these things affect me when I can't find out what's what.

Thanks again!