Viola patrinii

What to Eat

Edible parts: Flowers, Leaves, Leaves - tea

Young leaves and flower buds can be eaten raw or cooked. When added to soup, they act as a thickener much like okra. A tea can be brewed from the leaves.

Where to Find It

It is a temperate plant. It grows in forests between 1,900-2,700 m above sea level in the Himalayas. It suits moist shady places.

Asia, China, India, Indochina, Japan, Korea, Manchuria, Mongolia, Myanmar, Russia, SE Asia, Siberia, Vietnam,

How to Identify

A herb. It keeps growing from year to year. It grows 20 cm tall. The rhizomes are erect and dark brown. There are 3-5 leaves at the base. They are narrowly sword shaped with teeth towards the tip. The leaf stalks are 2-12 cm long. The leaf blade is 2-6 cm long by 1-2 cm wide. The flowers are white with purple veins. The fruit capsules are 1 cm long with yellow to brown seeds.

How to Grow

Prefers a cool moist well-drained humus-rich soil in partial or dappled shade and protection from scorching winds. Tolerates sandstone and limestone soils but becomes chlorotic if the pH is too high. Prefers a pH between 6 and 6.5. 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.

Propagation: Seed is best sown in autumn in a cold frame. Stored seed can be sown in early spring in a cold frame. 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

This species has a long history of folk use in the treatment of cancer and other diseases. Fresh roots are mashed and applied as a poultice for abscesses. The plant is suppurative for abscesses, cancer, inflammations, and ulcers.

Other Uses

No other uses known.

Viola patrinii is a perennial reaching 20cm tall, hardy to UK zone 5. It flowers May to June with seeds ripening July to September. Hermaphroditic flowers are insect-pollinated. It tolerates light sandy, medium loamy, and heavy clay soils, preferring well-drained conditions. It grows in semi-shade or full sun with mildly acidic to neutral pH, requiring moist soil.

Notes

There are about 500 Viola species.

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