Authors:
rarely more than 5cm tall but occasionally to 10cm, pubescent throughout. Leaves broadly ovate to kidney-shaped, 5-20mm long, rarely more, truncate or shallowly cordate, dark green. Flowers 1-1.5cm wide, blue-violet to reddish-violet or sometimes white, the lower petal shallowly notched - all petals fairly broad. Northern Europe, Asia and North America and mountains farther south, in open habitats usually on limestone. V.r. subsp. relicta, has light green leaves and narrow petalled flowers, the lower petal apiculate, not notched. V. rupestris is rather like V. riviniana ssp. minor and is sometimes confused with it.
