Viola tricolor

What to Eat

Edible parts: Flowers, Leaves, Vegetable

Young leaves and flower buds can be eaten raw or cooked, and act as a thickener when added to soups, much like okra. The small, attractive flowers make a colourful addition to salads or can be used as a garnish. The leaves can be brewed into a tea.

Known Hazards

Where to Find It

It is a temperate plant. In Argentina it grows from sea level to 2,500 m above sea level. It suits hardiness zones 4-10.

Argentina, Asia, Australia, Balkans, Belarus, Bosnia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Central Asia, Chile, Dominican Republic, Eurasia, Europe, Falklands, Germany, Haiti, India, Indochina, Italy, Jamaica, Korea, Laos, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Myanmar, North America, Norway, Russia, Scandinavia, SE Asia, Slovenia, South America, Spain, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Türkiye, Vietnam, West Indies,

How to Identify

A short lived perennial. It is often grown as an annual. It grows 10-35 cm high and spreads 15-40 cm wide. The stem is branched. There are large, deeply divided stipules. The leaves are oval and pointed or lance shaped. They have shallow lobes or teeth. The flowers can have several colours.

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. A very variable species. It is normally an annual plant, but it is sometimes a short-lived perennial. A good bee plant. Grows well with rye but dislikes growing with wheat. 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: Sow seed in autumn in a cold frame. Division can be done in autumn or just after flowering, though as this plant is short-lived, division is not particularly worthwhile.

Medicinal Uses

Heartsease has a long history of herbal use and was once highly regarded for treating epilepsy, asthma, skin diseases, and a wide range of other complaints. In modern herbalism it is valued as a purifying herb and taken internally for skin conditions such as eczema. The herb is anodyne, antiasthmatic, anti-inflammatory, cardiac, demulcent, depurative, diaphoretic, diuretic, emollient, expectorant, laxative, and vulnerary. Its expectorant action makes it useful for chest complaints including bronchitis and whooping cough, while its diuretic properties are applied to rheumatism, cystitis, and difficulty urinating. It is also prepared as an ointment for eczema and other skin complaints and used in cases of rheumatism and bed-wetting. The plant is harvested from June to August and dried for later use. The root is emetic. A homeopathic remedy made from the entire plant is used in the treatment of cutaneous eruptions.

Other Uses

Yellow, green, and blue-green dyes can be obtained from the flowers. The leaves can be used in place of litmus to test for acids and alkalis.

Viola tricolor is a common European wild flower, growing as an annual or short-lived perennial. The species is also known as wild pansy, Johnny Jump up (though this name is also applied to similar species such as the yellow pansy), heartsease, heart's ease, heart's delight, tickle-my-fancy, Jack-jump-up-and-kiss-me, come-and-cuddle-me, three faces in a hood, love-in-idleness, and pink of my john. It has been introduced into North America, where it has spread. It is the progenitor of the cultivated pansy, and is therefore sometimes called wild pansy; before the cultivated pansies were developed, "pansy" was an alternative name for the wild form. It can produce up to 50 seeds at a time. The flowers can be purple, blue, yellow or white.

Other Information

It is a commercially cultivated vegetable.

Notes

Probably medicine.There are about 500 Viola species.

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