Common Name: Sweet Violet
Genus & Species: Viola odorata (L.)
Family: Violaceae
Similar Species: Dog Violet (Viola riviniana), Heartsease (Viola tricolor), Pansy (Viola x wittrockiana)
Range and Habitat: Violets are plants of woodland and hedgerow, thriving in shady and damp places. Heartsease are more typical of grassland habitats. Sweet Violet is common across the UK and western Europe. It has also been introduced to many countries including the USA and Canada, Australia and New Zealand, all of which also have their own native Viola species.
General ID: Sweet violet is a low-growing clump forming perennial with heart to kidney-shaped, hairy and deep green leaves. The hairs on the leaf stalks point downwards. Flowers have five oval petals and are scented. Blue-violet is the most common colour of the sweet violet’s petals, although white or lilac also occur. These perennial flowers mature at a height of 10–15cm and a spread of 20–61cm and bear a striking bilateral symmetry. Flowers are often concealed by the leaves.
Dog Violet (Viola riviniana) is outwardly very similar to the Sweet Violet and virtually indistinguishable upon casual inspection, although the flowers are scentless. Heartsease (Viola tricolor) is a small plant of creeping habit, reaching at most 15cm in height, with flowers about 1.5cm in diameter. The stem is hairless, sometimes downy and is branched. The plant has no leaf rosette at the base, unlike some other violets. Leaves are alternate and oval, oblong or lanceolate with more or less serrated margins. The flowers are solitary and lateral, hoisted on long peduncles. They appear on aerial stems with more or less long internodes. The sepals are never larger than the corolla. It is 10 to 25mm long. This corolla can be purple, blue, yellow or white. It can most often be two-tone, yellow and purple. The tricolor shape, yellow, white and purple, is the most sought after. It is the wild ancestor of the Garden Pansy (Viola x wittrockiana).
Sweet violet Patrick Standish
For food… The young leaves and flower buds can be eaten raw or cooked and are usually available all through the winter. The leaves have a very mild flavour, though they soon become quite tough as they grow older. They make a very good salad, their mild flavour enabling them to be used as a base to support other stronger flavours. They can be used as a thickener when added to soups or similar. They can also be used as a flavouring in puddings etc. A tea can be made from the leaves. Flowers are also eaten raw, being commonly used to decorate salads and desserts and possess a sweet mild flavour with a delicate perfume. The flowers are also used fresh to flavour and colour confectionery such as Parma Violets. Newly opened flowers may be used in stuffing for poultry or fish. A soothing tea can be made from the leaves and flowers. A leaf extract is used to flavour sweets, baked goods and ice cream. Sweet Violet adds inimitable sweetness to desserts, fruit salads, and teas while the mild pea flavour of Heartsease combines equally well with sweet or savoury foods, like grilled meats and steamed vegetables. Violet flowers can be candied and used decoratively. Pansies have similar uses, with winter pansies providing a supply of colourful petals for salads all through the winter.
For healing… Many species of violets contain antioxidants known as anthocyanins. Some anthocyanins show strong antioxidant activities. Most violas tested contain cyclotides, which have a diverse range of in vitro biological activities when isolated from the plant, including uterotonic, anti-HIV, antimicrobial, and insecticidal activities. Viola canescens, a species from India, exhibited in vitro activity against the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. The whole plant is anti-inflammatory, diaphoretic, diuretic, emollient, expectorant, and laxative. It is taken internally in the treatment of bronchitis, respiratory catarrh, coughs, asthma, and cancer of the breast, lungs or digestive tract. A double-blind clinical trial showed that the adjuvant use of Sweet Violet syrup with short-acting β-agonists can improve the cough suppression in children with asthma. In another study intranasal administration of Sweet Violet oil extract showed to be effective in patients with insomnia. Topical use of an herbal formulation containing Heartsease extract also showed promising effects in patients with mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis.
Sweet violet has a long and proven history of folk use, especially in the treatment of cancer and whooping cough. It also contains salicylic acid, which is used to make aspirin. It is therefore effective in the treatment of headaches, migraine and insomnia. Externally, it is used to treat mouth and throat infections. The plant can either be used fresh or harvested when it comes into flower and then be dried for later use. The flowers are demulcent and emollient. They are used in the treatment of biliousness and lung troubles. The petals are made into a syrup and used in the treatment of infantile disorders. The roots is a much stronger expectorant than other parts of the plant but they also contain the alkaloid violine which at higher doses is strongly emetic and purgative. They are gathered in the autumn and dried for later use. The seeds are diuretic and purgative. They have been used in the treatment of urinary complaints are considered to be a good remedy for gravel. A homeopathic remedy is made from the whole fresh plant. It is considered useful in the treatment of spasmodic coughs and rheumatism of the wrist. An essential oil from the flowers is used in aromatherapy in the treatment of bronchial complaints, exhaustion and skin complaints
Heartsease has a long history of herbal use and was at one time in high repute as a treatment for epilepsy, asthma, skin diseases and a wide range of other complaints. In modern herbalism it is seen as a purifying herb and is taken internally in the treatment of skin complaints such as eczema. The herb is anodyne, anti-asthmatic, anti-inflammatory, cardiac, demulcent, depurative, diaphoretic, diuretic, emollient, expectorant, laxative and vulnerary. Being expectorant, it is used in the treatment of various chest complaints such as bronchitis and whooping cough, whilst its diuretic action makes it useful for treating rheumatism, cystitis and difficulty in passing urine. It is also used as an ointment for treating eczema and other skin complaints and is also useful in cases of rheumatism and bed-wetting. The root is emetic. A homeopathic remedy made from the entire plant used to treat cutaneous eruptions.
In culture… An essential oil from the flowers and leaves is used in perfumery. 1000kg of leaves produces about 300 - 400g absolute. The flowers are used to flavour breath fresheners and were used to create household deodorants in mediaeval Britain. The sweet scent of this flower has proved popular, particularly in the late Victorian period, and has consequently been used in the production of many cosmetic fragrances and perfumes. Violet is known to have a 'flirty' scent as its fragrance comes and goes. Ionone is present in the flowers, which turns off the ability for humans to smell the fragrant compound for moments at a time. The French are also known for their violet syrup, most commonly made from an extract of violets. In the United States, this French violet syrup is used to make violet scones and marshmallows. The scent of violet flowers is distinctive with only a few other flowers having a remotely similar odour. References to violets and the desirable nature of the fragrance go back to classical sources such as Pliny and Horace when the name ‘Ion’ was in use to describe this flower from which the name of the distinctive chemical constituents of the flower, the ionones – is derived.
In Ancient Greece violet flowers were a favourite and became the symbol of Athens. It features in many Ancient Greek myths. The scent was suggestive of sex, so the violet was an emblematic flower of Aphrodite the goddess of love and also of her son Priapus, the deity of gardens and generation. Iamus was a son of Apollo and the nymph Evadne. He was abandoned by his mother at birth. She left him lying in the Arkadian wilds on a bed of violets where he was fed honey by serpents. Eventually, he was discovered by passing shepherds who named him Iamus after the violet (ion) bed. Persephone, the goddess of springtime and flowers was picking spring flowers, including violets, when she was abducted by Hades, god of the Ancient Greek underworld.
Violets became symbolically associated with love between women. This connection originates from fragments of a poem by Sappho about a lost love, in which she describes her as "Close by my side you put around yourself [many wreaths] of violets and roses. In another poem, Sappho describes her lost love as wearing "violet tiaras, braided rosebuds, dill and crocus twined around" her neck. In 1926, one of the first plays to involve a lesbian relationship, La Prisonnière by Édouard Bourdet, used a bouquet of violets to signify lesbian love.
In the United States, the common Blue Violet (Viola sororia) is the state flower of Illinois, Rhode Island, New Jersey and Wisconsin, In Canada, Viola cucullata is the provincial flower of New Brunswick adopted in 1936 and in the United Kingdom, the Dog Violet (Viola riviniana) is the county flower of Lincolnshire. Sweet violets were important to Napoleon and his first wife, Josephine. Pressed sweet violets from Josephine’s grave were found in Napoleon’s locket at his death. Sweet Violet’s habit of flowers being hidden beneath its leaves have left us with the term ‘shrinking violet’ implying shyness or modesty and it may be the species mentioned in Shakespeare's famous lines:
"I know a bank where the wild thyme blows,
Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows,
Quite over-canopied with luscious woodbine,
With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine
A pigment extracted from the flowers is used as a litmus to test for acids and alkalines. Plants can be grown as a ground cover when spaced about 30cm apart each way. They make an effective weed-excluding cover. ornamental. A dynamic accumulator gathering minerals or nutrients from the soil and storing them in a more bioavailable form - used as fertilizer or to improve mulch.
For wildlife… Violets offer an early source of nectar for many species of pollinating insect, The Dog Violet is very important for several fritillary butterflies, including the Small Pearl-Bordered Fritillary (Boloria selene), the Pearl-Bordered Fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne) and the Silver-Washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia), because they lay their eggs on it.
At FFPG… Violets can be found in the forest garden, chill-out area, herb spiral and stage area at FFPG. Species present include the Sweet Violet (Viola odorata), Dog Violet (Viola riviniana), Heartsease (Viola tricolor) and Canada Violet (Viola canadensis).
Disclaimer:
This is intended for information only. FFPG, its staff, trustees and volunteers do not make any claim as to the safety or efficacy of plants listed for medicinal purposes and do not encourage the consumption or use of any of the plants listed herein. Anybody wishing to use plants for medicinal effect is advised to consult their medical professional.