Viola yezoensis
Maxim.
Chinese violet
(c) ashitaka, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)
(c) C!EL, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) sakai, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Flowers, Leaves
Young leaves and flower buds can be eaten raw or cooked, and thicken soups in a similar way to okra. The leaves can also be brewed into a tea.
Where to Find It
It is a temperate plant. Plants are frost hardy.
Asia, Australia, Japan*, Tasmania,
How to Identify
A plant that keeps growing from year to year. It has slender underground stems or rhizomes. It grows 20 cm high and 20 cm wide. The leaves are oval or heart-shaped. There are teeth around the edge. The leaves are 6 cm long. The flowers are white with purple stripes. They are 3 cm long. The fruit are 3 lobed capsules.
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. Plants are hardy to at least -15°c. 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 for best results; stored seed can be sown in early spring in a cold frame. Prick seedlings into individual pots once large enough to handle and plant out in summer. Divide plants in autumn or just after flowering. Larger divisions can go directly into their permanent positions, though smaller divisions do better potted up and grown on in light shade in a greenhouse or cold frame until established, then planted out in summer or the following spring.
Medicinal Uses
The whole plant is antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, and depurative. It is used internally to treat boils, carbuncles, snakebite, skin disorders, and mumps, among other conditions. The plant is harvested when in flower and dried for later use.
Other Uses
None known.
Wikipedia
A small perennial herb reaching 20cm tall and wide, hardy to UK zone 6. Produces flowers from April to May with seeds ripening May to June. Hermaphroditic and insect-pollinated. Grows in light, medium, or heavy soils with good drainage, preferring mildly acidic to neutral pH. Tolerates semi-shade and moist conditions.
Notes
There are about 500 Viola species.
References (3)
- Bull. Acad. Imp. Sci. Saint-Petersbourg 23:325; Melanges Biol. Bull. Phys.-Math. Acad. Imp. Sci. Saint-Petersbourg 9:736. 1877 (Diagn. pl. nov. asiat.)
- Hibbert, M., 2002, The Aussie Plant Finder 2002, Florilegium. p 307
- Plants for a Future database, The Field, Penpol, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0NG, UK. http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/
