Viola odorata

What to Eat

Edible parts: Flowers, Leaves, Herb, Spice, Leaves - tea

Young leaves and flower buds can be eaten raw or cooked and are often available throughout winter. The leaves have a mild flavour, though they toughen with age. Their mildness makes them excellent in bulk salads, with stronger-tasting leaves added for flavour. Stirred into soup, they thicken it much like okra. They are also used as a flavouring in puddings and similar dishes. A soothing tea can be made from both leaves and flowers. A leaf extract is used to flavour sweets, baked goods, and ice cream. The flowers are eaten raw, used to decorate salads and desserts, and can be used fresh to flavour and colour confectionery. They offer a sweet, mild flavour with a delicate perfume and are a particularly welcome salad decoration in late winter.

Known Hazards

Where to Find It

It is a temperate plant. It does best in well-composted, moist soils. It needs a protected and partly shaded position. It is resistant to frost but sensitive to drought. In Argentina it grows from sea level to 2,000 m above sea level. It suits hardiness zones 7-10.

Africa, Argentina, Asia, Australia, Balkans, Bosnia, Britain, Canada, Central America, Chile, China, Czech, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Eurasia, Europe*, France, Georgia, Haiti, Hawaii, Himalayas, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kurdistan, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Mediterranean, Mexico, Middle East, Moldova, Myanmar, North Africa, North America, NW India, Norway, Pacific, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Scandinavia, SE Asia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Southern Africa, South America, Spain, Switzerland, Tasmania, Turkey, Türkiye, USA, Venezuela, Vietnam, West Indies,

How to Identify

A herb. It keeps growing from year to year. It grows 10-15 cm high and spreads 30-60 cm wide. It has rooted runners. The leaves are heart shaped. They cluster around the base of the plant. The flowers are violet blue. They have a sweet smell. The fruit are round, hairy capsules.

How to Grow

Succeeds in most soils but prefers a cool moist well-drained humus-rich soil in partial or dappled shade and protection from scorching winds. When grown in the open it prefers a moderately heavy rich soil. Plants have done very well in a hot dry sunny position on our Cornish trial grounds. Tolerates sandstone and limestone soils. Plants are hardy to about -20°c. Sweet violets are very ornamental plants, there are many named varieties. They produce their delicately scented flowers in late winter and early spring - these are designed for fertilisation by bees and since there are few bees around at this time of year these flowers seldom set seed. However, the plants also produce a second type of flower later in the year. These never open, but seed is produced within them by self-fertilization. The plants will often self-sow freely when well-sited. They can also spread fairly rapidly at the roots when they are growing well. Responds well to an annual replanting in rich loose leafy soils. All members of this genus have more or less edible leaves and flower buds, though those species with yellow flowers can cause diarrhoea if eaten in large quantities. An evergreen.

Propagation: Seed is best sown in autumn in a cold frame. Stored seed requires a period of cold stratification and germination can be erratic. Prick out seedlings into individual pots when large enough to handle and plant out in summer. Divide plants in autumn or just after flowering. Larger divisions can go straight into permanent positions, but smaller divisions are better potted up and grown on in light shade in a greenhouse or cold frame until establishing well, then planted out in summer or the following spring.

Medicinal Uses

Sweet violet has a long and proven history of folk use, especially in treating cancer and whooping cough. It also contains salicylic acid, the compound used to make aspirin, making it effective for headaches, migraine, and insomnia. The whole plant is anti-inflammatory, diaphoretic, diuretic, emollient, expectorant, and laxative. Taken internally, it is used in the treatment of bronchitis, respiratory catarrh, coughs, asthma, and cancers of the breast, lungs, and digestive tract. Externally, it is applied to mouth and throat infections. The plant can be used fresh or harvested when in flower and dried for later use. The flowers are demulcent and emollient, used in treating biliousness and lung complaints; the petals are made into a syrup for infantile disorders. The roots are a stronger expectorant than other parts of the plant but also contain the alkaloid violine, which at higher doses is strongly emetic and purgative. Roots are gathered in autumn and dried for later use. The seeds are diuretic and purgative and have been used for urinary complaints and as a remedy for gravel. A homeopathic remedy made from the whole fresh plant is considered useful for spasmodic coughs and rheumatism of the wrist. An essential oil from the flowers is used in aromatherapy for bronchial complaints, exhaustion, and skin complaints.

Other Uses

An essential oil from the flowers and leaves is used in perfumery; 1,000 kg of leaves yields roughly 300–400 g absolute. The flowers are used to flavour breath fresheners. A pigment extracted from the flowers serves as a litmus to test for acids and alkalis. Plants make an effective weed-excluding ground cover when spaced about 30 cm apart each way. This species is also a dynamic accumulator, gathering minerals and nutrients from the soil and storing them in a more bioavailable form for use as fertilizer or mulch improver.

Viola odorata is a species of flowering plant in the family Violaceae. The small hardy herbaceous perennial is commonly known as wood violet, sweet violet, English violet, common violet, florist's violet, or garden violet. The plant is native to Eurasia. The leaves and flowers are edible and have been used to make fragrances.

Other Information

Leaves are sold in local markets. It is cultivated.

Notes

There are about 500 Viola species. It has anticancer properties. Viola odorata contains flavonoids, phenols, alkaloids, glycosides, saponins, stigmasterols, methyl salicylate, mucilage and vitamin C, etc.

More from Violaceae

Gloeospermum equatoriense

Ecuador gloeospermum

Gloeospermum sphaerocarpum

Guacatungarana

Hybanthus enneaspermus

Spade flower

Leonia crassa

Fleshy leonia

Leonia cymosa

Cymose leonia

Leonia glycycarpa

Achocon