By Bathgate
New York,
United States 
What are these purple flowers? I thought they were snapdragons but now having 2nd thoughts. They grow very low to the ground - about 10 inches max. Can any of you smart people ID this plant please? Thanks!
16 Jul, 2016
Answers
They have the look of the pea family about them.
16 Jul, 2016
They look like Viola labradorica to me.
16 Jul, 2016
More pea family than anything else Cammomile I agree. Tug checking images of Viola labradorica it doesn't seem to match to me.
16 Jul, 2016
You're right, MG! The leaves belong to some kind of Violet, but the flowers are definitely of the pea family.
Hmmm...maybe one of the many native Lathyrus species?
16 Jul, 2016
Could be...
16 Jul, 2016
Definitely Lathyrus, one of the perennial sweet peas. A view of the leaves and stem would help to identify which one.
18 Jul, 2016
Very like a perennial sweet pea, but odd that it's growing "low to the ground", unless it has nothing to climb up?
19 Jul, 2016
With the low growth habit, I was thinking Lathyrus maritimus, but I can't find a form in which the flowers really look like that.
19 Jul, 2016
Not snapdragons, if you hadn't said they only grow to 10 inches I'd have suggested Impatiens glandulifera (Himalayan balsam) but that grows up to six foot in height and is viewed as an invasive weed.
16 Jul, 2016