Annual, biennial or perennial, glabrous-short retrorse hairy, upto 80 cm high herb. Stem erect, branched from base. Leaves ovate-spathulate, cordate, obtuse, crenate; stipules pinnatipartite, lanceolate, crenate, foliaceous. Flowers multi-coloured or a mixture of yellow, blue, purple and violet. Sepals lanceolate. Petals distinctly exceeding the sepals; spur 5-8 mm long, considerably straight, obtuse.

Fl. Per.: November-June.

Type: Described from Sweden, Herb. Linn. 1052. 21 (LINN).

Distribution: Europe, Asia, America and Australia.

Viola tricolor L. is widely cultivated as an ornamental. There are number of horticultural varieties under cultivation in Pakistan. In Flora Europaea, Val. et al., l.c. recognized 5 subspecies. According to them, our material mainly falls into the type subsp. tricolor L. (annuals, c. 40 cm high, firs. blue-violet) and subsp. matutina (Klokov) Valcut. (annuals, upto 80 cm high, firs. yellowish). The cultivated garden Pansy is sometimes called Viola x wittrockiana Gams (Viola tricolor var. hortensis).