Name: Violets (Viola odorata)
Otherwise known as: Little faces, Johnny Jump Ups
Habitat: 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, yellow or white sweetly-scented flowers in spring and autumn.
What does it do: The name originates from the Greek myths when Io, a nymph, and a favourite of Zeus, was changed into a white cow to protect her from the fury of his wife Hera, and legend 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The historical references to the plant are legion.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 an 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 them with goat milk to improve the beauty of their girl children. The medieval Herbarium of Apuleius, states ‘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.
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 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.
Violets are a botanical curiosity, apart from being self-propagating, they are cleistogamous: 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 trees.
