Een vondst van Viola lactea in het Drongengoed (prov. Oost-Vlaanderen): een primeur met een oude lokale voorgeschiedenis

A first observation of Viola lactea in Drongengoed (province of East Flanders, Belgium): new, yet with local roots in a distant past. – In 2019, Viola lactea Smith was observed for the first time in the forest and heathland area of Drongengoed (Aalter and Maldegem, prov. East Flanders). By means of extensive nature conservation works, the expansion and recovery of the Atlantic heathland has been pursued there for over two decades now. Viola lactea turned up in a patch of heathland that has been managed more intensively in the past ten years. In a broader geographical and historical perspective, this contribution briefly describes the significance of the unexpected observation of a single specimen of this very rare species of the Belgian flora