Botanical name: Viola odorata, V. tricolor, V. yezoinsis
Family: Violaceae
Parts used: flowers, leaves, roots (sparingly)
Properties: cool, sweet and moist, alterative, demulcent, anti-inflammatory, lymphagogue
Used for: hot inflamed tissues, sore throats, swollen lymph glands, cysts, breast health
Plant preparations: tea, syrup, tincture, food
My first experience with violet was on a retreat with Paul Bergner. We were hiking around the Mt. Hood area of Oregon when we came upon an open meadow. Delighted, Paul dropped to the ground exploring the foliage. All around him were plants with heart shaped leaves with small yellow flowers. He gently pulled out a plant from the ground, wiped off the mud, and began to nibble the roots. Because there was such an abundance of plants in that area, Paul invited all the students to do the same.
I found a small plant and gingerly uprooted it. It tasted quite pleasant. Fresh, sweet, salty, and then... quite mucilaginous. (Before you eat lots of violet roots note that they are emetic in high doses.)
My first impression of violet was that it is a very delicate plant. It lays close to the ground, some small flowers looking up and some looking down. These flowers that you see in the springtime aren’t true flowers as they don’t produce seeds. Later in the year small nondescript flowers form underneath the leaves and fulfill the reproductive duties of a flower. It is commonly said that violets flower in the spring for the sheer exuberance of doing so.
Don’t let violet’s delicate nature fool you, however. This plant is a powerful ally in disguise.
For colds and flus
Violet is an important addition to your medicine chest during the cold and flu season. A syrup of the flowers can soothe an irritated and hot throat. It’s also a powerful lymphagogue that can relieve congestion and swollen lymph glands. Cooling and mucilaginous, violet can be used for a dry cough and for ear infections.
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| Violets growing in the French Alps |
To reduce cysts
Violet’s most famous use is to dissolve cysts, lumps, and fibrotic tissue of the breast. Herbalist Matthew Wood recommends a fresh poultice of leaves and flowers for cancers of the lymphatic system, breasts, lungs, and skin. I’ve heard many stories of oil infused with fresh violets being used for dissolving lumps of the breast or simply as a preventive.
A fresh violet poultice can be used externally for a variety of reasons. Abscesses,
acne, arthritis, minor skin irritations, sores, and swollen glands are just a few of the possibilities.
Anti-inflammatory
Violet eases pain. It is used externally and internally for pain associated with arthritis and it especially indicated for arthritis accompanied by dry hot tissues.
I often recommend violet leaf infusions for people who have dry, rough and itchy rashes (sometimes diagnosed as atopic dermatitis or eczema). Along with other recommendations I've seen many people who have experienced this discomfort for years, watch in wonder as it all disappears.
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| Viola palustrus |
As food
Violet is a culinary delight. Its fresh leaves make for a delicious salad. Violet flowers are edible and gorgeous, making them a nice garnish to any meal. Besides visual appeal, the flowers can be made into a variety of herbal goodies including syrups, candies, and jams.
Violets do more than taste good, they are also a nutritious addition to our diet. The flowers and leaves contain very high amounts of vitamin C - some say higher than any other plant. The leaves are also high in vitamin A.
"it stimulates waste and secretion, relieves nervous irritability, and improves nutrition"
John Scudder
Eclectic physician
Violet for the heart
Another name for violet is hearts-ease. It has been used for the physical and emotional heart for thousands of years. Violet is high in a constituent called rutin. Rutin strengthens capillaries, prevents platelet aggregation, and is anti-inflammatory.
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| Viola tricolor |
Botanically speaking
The official violet used in medicine is Viola odorata, but as far as I know all members of the Viola genus will work in a similar manner. Viola odorata originally comes from Europe and has naturalized across much of the United States. The North American continent also contains many native species of violets.
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| Viola odorata |
Violets belong to a family of their own called Violaceaea. According to Tom Elpel, author of Botany in a Day, there are 16 genera and 850 species in the Violoaceaea family. The African violet, which is often grown in pots here in the US, is not a member of the violet family.
Violets have irregular flowers with five separate petals.
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| Pansy growing in my garden |
The pansy is a cultivated violet whose flowers can be eaten as well.
Violets have an exploding seed valve.
You can easily grow cultivated violets like pansies in your garden. Wild violets grow abundantly in the northern hemisphere. Look for them in damp and shady meadows.
Violet offers many different ways to explore its gifts. If you have access to fresh violets, try making a syrup, infused oil, infused vinegar, and a poultice. Add the greens and flowers to salads or garnish any meal for a beautiful and wild flare.
If you aren’t able to find violets growing near you, you can order the dried leaf from Mountain Rose Herbs. Violet leaves make a great nourishing herbal infusion and can be used in this way for many of the benefits listed in this article.
The corner cabinet in the living room is another repository for found natural objects. There is a big cylindrical jar filled with shells and sea glass, a gourd stuffed with lunaria, dried daffodils, and feathers, and some twisted vine that caught my eye one day - among other things.
This little curio cabinet is a little harder to see, because the back of it is mirrored. It is filled with sprigs of dried flowers, seed pods, a really beautiful egg-shaped beeswax candle, gemstones, and at the very bottom there is a very old set of metal beads that I found walking along some railroad tracks one day. Where I used to work, the tracks ran along the building, which were very close to what was once the town dump site. My favorite lunchhour activity - especially in the spring when the thawing seemed to rearrange the earth - was to walk along and find old bottles and various other oddities from a long time ago.
This basket contains roses that arrived for my birthday. They were beautiful, but their arrival coincided with what was to become our 22 day sojourn of hospitals and hospice, ending with our brother John's passing. Somewhere in there, I snipped them off and put them in the basket to dry so that I could enjoy them later. A little packet of blue squill bulbs that I *should* have planted in the fall got in there somehow, too.
Several years ago I visited my friend Sharon Magee's house, and was awed by her collection of old herbal remedy containers. It gave me a new eye for when I visit flea markets and such, and now I love my own tiny collection. It's exciting to find the old packages, and read the labels - things have really changed!
