Sweet is strongly scented, wood less scented but larger than the sweets. At least three violets are native to Florida, V. Conspersa kons-PER-sa is sprinkled, sororia sisterly, and bicolor two colored. Nutritionally violets have 15, to 20, IUs of vitamin A per grams serving.
See recipes below. Five petals, with lowest petal heavily veined and going back into a spur. Low growing, there is a wide variety in the leaf shape. Sweet violets are the most aromatic, wood violets tend to be larger.
Sweet violets first in spring, the wood violets. In warmer climates they can blossom again in fall. Blossoms raw or candied. Yellow violets can be mildly laxative. Place the violets blossoms in a glass jar and cover them with the boiling water.
Make an infusion with violets and water by placing your blossoms in a glass jar and covering them with boiling water. Put a lid on the jar, and set aside for anywhere between hours. The water will turn to an aqua blue. Strain and discard the spent flowers. Add the lemon juice and the mix will change to a pretty pink. Stir in pectin, and bring to a boil. Add sugar, bring to a boil again, and boil vigorously for one minute.
Skim if necessary. Pour into sterile jars and seal. Place violet flowers in a mason jar and pour boiling water over them. Let sit 24 hours. Strain liquid into a bowl not aluminum!
Place sugar, lemon juice and water in a saucepan and boil into a very thick syrup, near the candy stage. Add violet water and bring to a rolling boil. Boil 10 minutes or until thickened. Pour into sterile bottles. Allow to cool, then seal and refrigerate. Serve with club soda or as pancake topping, or brush on baked goods.
In certain parts of our yard they get upwards of almost two feet. I use the stem fibers for quick cordage sometimes. At the top, you mentioned getting the identification right. Is this for the purpose of usage sweet or wood , or, is there something we need to know to look out for?
Warning if you cook a mess of violet greens, even after removing the stems, and eat them for a yummy breakfast, you might have the runs for the next six hours. Violets never bothered me before, always just nibbled the little pretties, but I went all out today and now Im all cleaned out.
Tools, field guides, harvesting ethics, and a primer on sustainable wildcrafting are all requisite. Browse our library of resources to start foraging on the right foot! There are sites saying not to eat them, do you know a reason for this?
I have also seen a site saying you can eat the flowers and leaves. Do they have higher saponin levels? We have lots of yellow violets in the wild, but no purple or blue violets. If you know anything about the topic, that would help. So I wanted to make an infused oil for salves with violets. You mentioned that tincture is not a good option but vinegar is. What about olive oil? Curious as to the extraction ability? Yes, violet-infused olive oil is a wonderful preparation for the skin!
Thank you Sarah, I will give it go. I am low on Calendula, I grow my own. Down to the last half cup. We are about to go into Winter and I am having trouble getting some from my supplier in Australia, its sold out. I will have to wait. I do have dried violets here, 2 cups worth. I use them both. Thanks for the tips. I will try them. I may make smaller amounts of each. I have been using dried violets mixed with other flowers and herbs in a botanical mix for bath teas, and bath salts.
Made a lovely bath milk with violets, calendula and oats. I am just having fun experimenting. Have a great weekend. Wow, that bath milk sounds delightful, Michelle! Hi Juliet, I was wondering if I could add the dried flowers to a healing bath mix to help soothe and calm the skin.
I am using oatmeal, chamomile and honey and wanted to add some more colour. Sure, any kind of violet would be a lovely addition to your healing bath mix! Calendula is a wonderful healing flower to include as well.
Can I mix violet leaf with broad leaf plantain for an herbal bath tea to nourish and moisturize the skin? Absolutely, that sounds lovely!
When making herbal baths, I like to prepare the herbal tea, strain the herbs out, and then add the liquid into the bath. It sure looks pretty to see the herbs floating directly in the bathwater, but I find that this is very messy to clean up. Persian violet Exacum affine is in a different genus and plant family than the violets discussed in this article.
The distilled water tea was drunk and applied inside the nostrils. Can I use pansy and violas from commercial nursery for herbal teas using leaves and flowers as I heard that they are good for relaxation? Also, here in Australia we have a type called wooded violets dark green leaves and a small plant closed to the ground — do they have the same medicinal value?
Can you suggest anymore relaxing herb as I am currently using lavender, rose petals, lemon balm etc but prefer something flowery and more relaxing as peri menopause is keeping me awake and stressed?
Pansies and violas are both ornamental hybrid plants. There are about species of violets and some can be used for medicine as described in this article. Those are all wonderful relaxing nervine herbs. I also like tulsi and chamomile.
All of those herbs together would make a lovely tea blend or herbal syrup! Skullcap is too but stronger sedative effect and amazing for sleepless nights. You could also try catnip which is safe for children too. I would like to know if tincture could be made out of Violet leaves. I have the species Viola sororia. Making a tincture is not the best way to prepare violet because the mucilage and minerals found in violet are water soluble and not effectively extracted by alcohol.
We recommend making a tea infusion , syrup, or infused vinegar instead to make the most effective medicinal preparation. Thank you for your prompt reply. How is a person supposed to know what constituents are beneficial within a plant and what solvent, whether alcohol, ACV, glycerin, and such, to use to extract those medicinal properties out?
Is there a book that contains all of that? Thank you. We would love to have you join us for the course. In terms of books on this topic, Herbal Constituents: Foundations of Phytochemistry by Lisa Ganora is a wonderful resource. I just made a tincture from the leaves and it is very mucilaginous fast extraction with a high speef blender!
Wonderful article. For the tea does it need to be fresh or can it be dried for medicinal benefit? Violet is cooling and moistening, so that would certainly be indicated for dry and inflamed sinuses.
So glad you enjoyed this article! Are leaves of the Confederate violet edible? I have both the common and Confederate intermingling in my lawn. The confederate violet is a cultivar of the common blue violet Viola sororia and you can use them interchangeably for food and medicine. I had no idea! I harvest weeds all the time. Can I dry these and use them in cooking and soaps? You can also read through our article on Foraging for Wild Edibles and Herbs: Sustainable and Safe Gathering Practices for our thoughts and guidelines on foraging sustainably and safely.
Gratefully yours, Sibylle. We adorned a cake with some this week, and it made it look ever so festive! Usually, after sitting for hours post-harvest, the bugs will leave the plant material. However, if there are still bugs after this time, you can shake the flowers upside down or use a brush to manually remove them.
Best of luck to you! The violet is sacred to Aphrodite. Violet crowns were commonly worn for protection by the goddess. So interesting! It does resemble a certain aspect of human anatomy! All species of heart ease can be eaten, drunk and applied. They all have the same actions…just in varying degrees. In this case it may look like a labia as some suggested. Each flower slightly droops.
Flowers bloom in early spring and usually by the time the temperatures get hot the flowers die off but the leaves remain. Violet leaves are palmate, alternate, and are somewhat an oblong heart or kidney shape.
The leaf margin is serrated toothed and they do not have any hairs. They can grow to anywhere between 13mm and 50mm in width. Wild violets, depending on geographical location and soil quality grow anywhere from 15cm to 25cm tall. Wild violets are native to many areas throughout central and eastern Canada and the US.
Although they are located in Europe, they are not as common as they are in Canada and the US. There are wild violets in Australia as well. They can thrive in medium, well-drained soils although they prefer moisture-retentive, rich soils. Although they survive in full sun, they tend to prefer part shade. Violet flowers and leaves are edible with the leaves having a high level of vitamins A and C.
They can be used in salads or cooked as greens. The flowers can be made into jellies, candied, or tossed into a salad. Some wild plants are poisonous or can have serious adverse health effects. We are not health professionals, medical doctors, nor are we nutritionists. It is up to the reader to verify nutritional information and health benefits with qualified professionals for all edible plants listed in this web site. Please click here for more information. Wild Violet Viola odorata.
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