Medical application far exceeds insignificant appearance
Violets (Viola odorata, Little faces or Johnny Jump Ups) are a perennial member of the Violaceae family, growing to 15cm in woodland and meadows in Europe. A stemless plant with heart shaped leaves bearing violet and yellow centered, or white, sweetly scented flowers in spring and autumn. This tiny plant has a remarkable history, and medicinal application, which far exceeds its insignificant appearance.
The name originates in the Greek, Ion, which reveals the derivation. Io, a nymph and a favourite of Zeus, cried when to escape the fury of Hera she was changed into a white cow and mythology states that the violets grew from her tears.
The historical references to the plant are legion. The Greeks of ancient Athens covered their corpses with violets and the physicians of the school of Aesclepios used violet leaves to treat topical cancers. Homer refers to violets as antidote to anger. Pliny the Elder recommended a garland of the flowers as a cure for dizziness, gout and spleen, as well as a cure for hangovers. The Romans made wine from the flowers, the Celts mixed violets with goats’ milk to improve the beauty of their girl children. The medieval Herbarium of Apuleius, stated, ‘for new wounds and hardness of the maw’. There are two references to violets in Shakespeare; Hamlet and Pericles, both refer to death in the young.
Culpeper recommends violets in the following, ‘…the flowers of the violets ripen and dissolveth swellings. The leaves and flowers when they are fresh are effectual in the pleurisy and all diseases of the lungs’. The Aziris named their pharmacies, violet houses. The followers of Napoleon adopted the violet as their symbol and strewed the streets of Paris to welcome him on his return from exile in Elba. Violets feature prominently in witchcraft; they are said to be a protection against spells and ill-will. They were also made into love potions and dream pillows.
The plant contains salicylic acid, volatile oil, flavanoids, glucosides, saponins, odoratine and irone, as well as vitamins A and C. This renders it antiseptic, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, diaphoretic, laxative, mucilaginous, expectorant, emetic, alterative and anti-tumour.
The historical range of treatments are quite remarkable: colds and flu, canker sores, gout, scrofula, pleurisy, syphilis, hypertension, whooping cough, insomnia, psoriasis, eczema, acne, cradle cap and swollen glands. There are numerous references as a relief and cure for cancer. Lady Margaret Marsham was cured of epithelioma, a cancer of the tonsils, with violet leaf tea. The wife of General Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, found relief from pain, when in the final stages of throat cancer, by drinking the tea.
Violets are a botanical curiosity, apart from being self-propagating, they are cleistogamous; this means they flower twice a year, in spring and autumn, but only produce seed in the latter period. The spring flowers are aromatic and the autumn ones are not.
The plant sends out scions (runners), which should be severed after flowering and replanted.
The flowers can be added to salads, candied, made into syrups, added to jellies and jams, and made into wine. The oil is highly valued in the perfume industry.
Violets are shade tolerant and make a marvellous addition to the barren areas under your trees.
Next week Spikenard
