Wild pansy

...An annual plant of the Violaceae family (illustration). Its Japanese name is Sanshikisumire (three-colored violet), and it comes from the fact that the original species, V. tricolor L. (English names: wild pansy, heartsease, Johnny-jump-up), has three colors in one flower: purple, yellow, and white, or purple, yellow, and blue. Improvements began in Europe around the beginning of the 19th century by British scientists such as Thompson, and by the end of the century, the basic varieties currently cultivated had been almost complete. During this time, V. tricolor was crossed with other closely related species, such as V. lutea , V. altaica , V. cornuta , and V. calcarata , and developed into a synthetic species of completely artificial hybrid origin.

*Some of the terminology that mentions "wild pansy" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…スミレ科の一年草（イラスト）。和名はサンシキスミレ(三色スミレ)で，原種であるV.tricolor L.(英名wild pansy,heartsease,Johnny‐jump‐up)が，1花に紫，黄，白，あるいは紫，黄，青の3色をあわせもつことに由来する。ヨーロッパで19世紀初めごろから，イギリスのトムソンTompsonなどの手によって改良が始められ，同世紀末には，現在栽培されている品種の基礎的品種がほとんど完成されていて，この間にV.tricolorを中心に，V.lutea,V.altaica,V.cornuta,V.calcarataなどの近縁種が交配されて，完全な人工雑種起源の合成種となって発達をしたものである。…

※「wild pansy」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報