What is this viola species which is quite popular with bees?

Hi All,

I thought these violets growing under my roses looked quite pretty, so I didn't weed them out and they have formed some decent clumps now. I recently noticed bees were quite keen, which seems unusual with violets! What could the species be, do you think? At first I thought riviniana, but the flowers look too narrow on mine! Could mine be reichenbachiana? There are a few species which seem to look incredibly similar, so I'm really struggling to identify them!

Thanks,

Nick

 

Need to check the sticky out thing behind flower..the spur...see pics below
This is Viola riviniana ..... common name dog Violet.

help here...

Viola riviniana, picture 9 of 19

 

Thanks @Silver surfer, I see what you're getting at, spur is a darker purple than the petals with reichenbachiana! Unfortunately my blooming camera has just ran out of battery power so I can't post a photo but yes, definitely looks darker! Looking at the photos of riviniana you posted again, the leaves look pointier on mine, too.

Nick

 

They are an important plant for butterflies

 

Oh wow, didn't realise they had any relationship to butterflies, that's really interesting! Thanks, @Scrungee!

Viola reichenbachiana, Early Dog-violet

Nick