Friday, April 6, 2012

Common Blue Violets

My first piece of wildlife identification comes from Kingdom Plantae.

Viola sororia
Scientific Name: Viola sororia


Common Name:  Common Blue Violet

Leaf:  Heart shaped.  teeth are rounded.

Flower: 5 petals.  Can be any shade of blue or purple. White at the base. 3/4 of an ch to 1 inch in size.

Growth Habit: Highly adaptive.  Shade or sun.  Shows up in woodlands, prairies, train tracks, sidewalk cracks, garbage dumps... you get the picture.

Height: About 3 inches 


The Viola sororia, or common blue violet, is something that I had never come across in my former desert home.  I mean, I had seen potted violets in garden stores, but that is very different from the discovery of carpets of violets that are forming across my lawn. 


Violets start blooming in April (In southern MN, anyway).  They prefer climates in which the temperature doesn't rise too high for an extended period of time, which explains why they aren't found in the desert southwest!  While many people view the violet as an invasive, I find it to be the perfect yard material.

Why?

Well, for one, the leaves are a beautifully glossy heart shape.  The Violet's leaves grow outward, but stay close enough together to produce a rather lush cluster.  This cluster, however, only grows up to about 3 inches high, so there's no need to mow it.  Perfection!

It gets better, though.

You can eat the violet!!!!

Yep.  People make violet jellies, as well as candied violet blossoms, and you can even make salads out of the leaves and flowers.  How awesome is that? 

Not awesome enough, you say?  Ok, I can top that.

Medicinal syrup is made from the leaves and flowers.  This syrup is used to treat respiratory infections such as coughs and congestion. It appears that violets contain something called rutin, which aids in blood purification.

Not only that, but the ancient Greeks used the violet to ward off headaches.  Why would they think a violet could get rid of headaches?  Well, it turns out that the violet contains salicylic acid.  Why does that sound familiar, you ask?

Salicylic acid is the key ingredient in aspirin, that's why!  Sweet, right?

Violets are also high in two very important vitamins: A and C.  One cup of salad made from violet leaves has more vitamin C than an entire bag of oranges!

Brief warning, however:  Don't eat the roots or seeds, or you'll be spending lots of time in your bathroom.  In some species of violet the root and seed is mildly toxic, and in others it's simply a strong diuretic.  In either case, though, do you really want to take that chance?

There are more enjoyable ways to lose weight, in my opinion!

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