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Viola tricolor - L.

Heartsease

Author	L.	Botanical references	17, 200
Family	Violaceae	Genus	Viola
Synonyms
Known Hazards	None known
Range	Europe, including Britain, from Scandanavia south and east to Corsica, W. Asia, Siberia, Caucasus.
Habitat	Cultivated and waste ground, short grassland etc, mainly on acid and neutral soils[17].
Edibility Rating	2 (1-5)	Medicinal Rating	3 (1-5)

Physical Characteristics

Annual/Perennial growing to 0.15m by 0.15m.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid and neutral soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats

Lawn; Meadow; Cultivated Beds;

Edible Uses

Edible Parts: Flowers; Leaves.

Edible Uses: Tea.

Young leaves and flower buds - raw or cooked[105]. When added to soup they thicken it in much the same way as okra[85, 159]. A tea can be made from the leaves[85]. The small attractive flowers are added to salads or used as a garnish[183].

Medicinal Uses

Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.

Anodyne; Antiasthmatic; Antiinflammatory; Antispasmodic; Cardiac; Demulcent; Depurative; Diaphoretic; Diuretic; Emetic; Emollient; Expectorant; Homeopathy; Laxative; Vulnerary.

Heartsease has a long history of herbal use and was at one time in high repute as a treatment for epilepsy, asthma, skin diseases and a wide range of other complaints[4]. In modern herbalism it is seen as a purifying herb and is taken internally in the treatment of skin complaints such as eczema[254]. The herb is anodyne, antiasthmatic, anti-inflammatory, cardiac, demulcent, depurative, diaphoretic, diuretic, emollient, expectorant, laxative and vulnerary[4, 7, 9, 13, 21, 46, 165]. Being expectorant, it is used in the treatment of various chest complaints such as bronchitis and whooping cough, whilst its diuretic action makes it useful for treating rheumatism, cystitis and difficulty in passing urine[254]. It is also used as an ointment for treating eczema and other skin complaints and is also useful in cases of rheumatism, bed-wetting etc[4, 9]. The plant is harvested from June to August and dried for later use[4]. The root is emetic[7]. A homeopathic remedy is made from the entire plant[4]. It is used in the treatment of cutaneous eruptions[4].

Other Uses

Dye; Litmus.

Yellow, green and blue-green dyes are obtained from the flowers[168]. The leaves can be used in place of litmus in testing for acids and alkalis[4].

Cultivation details

Prefers a cool moist well-drained humus-rich soil in partial or dappled shade and protection from scorching winds[31, 53]. Tolerates sandstone and limestone soils but becomes chlorotic if the pH is too high[200]. Prefers a pH between 6 and 6.5[200]. A very variable species[4]. It is normally an annual plant, but it is sometimes a short-lived perennial[187]. A good bee plant[24]. Grows well with rye but dislikes growing with wheat[18]. All members of this genus have more or less edible leaves and flower buds, though those species with yellow flowers can cause diarrhoea if eaten in large quantities[62, 85, 159].

Propagation

Seed - best sown in the autumn in a cold frame. Division in the autumn or just after flowering. The plant is a short-lived perennial and division is not that worthwhile.

Links

This plant is also mentioned in the following PFAF articles: Edible Ornamental Plants.

References

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[7] Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 1984 ISBN 0-356-10541-5
Covers plants growing in Europe. Also gives other interesting information on the plants. Good photographs.

[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.

[13] Triska. Dr. Hamlyn Encyclopaedia of Plants. Hamlyn 1975 ISBN 0-600-33545-3
Very interesting reading, giving some details of plant uses and quite a lot of folk-lore.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[18] Philbrick H. and Gregg R. B. Companion Plants. Watkins 1979
Details of beneficial and antagonistic relationships between neighbouring plants.

[21] Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983 ISBN 0-553-23827-2
Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.

[24] Baines. C. Making a Wildlife Garden. 0
Fairly good with lots of ideas about creating wildlife areas in the garden.

[31] Brown. Shade Plants for Garden and Woodland. 0

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[53] De. Bray. L. The Wild Garden. 0
Interesting reading.

[62] Elias. T. and Dykeman. P. A Field Guide to N. American Edible Wild Plants. Van Nostrand Reinhold 1982 ISBN 0442222009
Very readable.

[85] Harrington. H. D. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press 1967 ISBN 0-8623-0343-9
A superb book. Very readable, it gives the results of the authors experiments with native edible plants.

[105] Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976
The most comprehensive guide to edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.

[159] McPherson. A. and S. Wild Food Plants of Indiana. Indiana University Press 1977 ISBN 0-253-28925-4
A nice pocket guide to this region of America.

[165] Mills. S. Y. The Dictionary of Modern Herbalism. 0
An excellent small herbal.

[168] Grae. I. Nature's Colors - Dyes from Plants. MacMillan Publishing Co. New York. 1974 ISBN 0-02-544950-8
A very good and readable book on dyeing.

[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.

[187] Phillips. R. & Rix. M. Perennials Volumes 1 and 2. Pan Books 1991 ISBN 0-330-30936-9
Photographs of over 3,000 species and cultivars of ornamental plants together with brief cultivation notes, details of habitat etc.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[254] Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148
An excellent guide to over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.

Readers Comments

Plants for a Future does not verify the accuracy of reader comments, use at your own risk. In particular Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. You should always consult a professional before using plants medicinally.

Viola tricolor

Yasuhiko Ishihara Thu Feb 19 2009

Hello, I appreciate if you can inform me the definition of edibility rating 2 rated for viola tricolor. What does it mean edibility rating from 1 to 5 in your web-site? I appreciate to know the definition, because I was asked by our government authority about the edibility of viola tricolor which is containing in our new product, a natural fertilizer recently ivented.

Viola tricolor

david Thu Feb 19 2009

Yasuhiko, 5 means very edible, 1 means poor to eat in taste, texture etc and possibly things like mild toxicity (there are no reports of toxicity in this case). Naturally, these rating are somewhat subjective and open to question since different people and cultures can have differing tastes.

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