Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker - Dog Violet Flower Fairy

The wren and the robin hop around;
The Primrose-maids my neighbors be;
The sun has warmed the mossy ground;
Where Spring has come, I too am found:
The Cuckoo's call has wakened me!

Dog Violet
Botanical: Viola canina
Family: N.O. Violaceae

The Dog Violet differs principally from the Sweet Violet in its long straggling stems and paler blue-violet flowers. It is found on dry hedge-banks and in the woods, flowering from April to August, a longer flowering period than the Sweet Violet. The root-stock of the Dog Violet is short and from it rises a tuft of leaves. The flowering stems are at first short, but as time goes on they elongate considerably until sometimes they may be found nearly a foot long. The leaves are heart-shaped and with serrated edges, but vary much in their proportions. The flowers are scentless, generally larger than those of the Sweet Violet, not only paler in color, but like most purple flowers, occasionally varying to white. 
 

Named the dog violet because it has no scent.