Common Blue Violet - Viola sororia
Viola sororia, known commonly as the Common Blue Violet, is a stemless herbaceous perennial plant that is native to eastern North America. It is known by a number of common names including; Common Meadow Violet, Purple Violet, Woolly Blue Violet, Hooded Violet and Wood Violet.
It is the state flower of Wisconsin, Illinois, Rhode Island, and New Jersey.
Self-seeding freely, in lawns and gardens it can become a weed.
This is the violet that often grows in lawns.
White or partly-white flowers occur. Some authorities subdivide the species into broad-leaved wood violet (Viola latiuscula), common blue violet (Viola papilionacea), northern blue violet (Viola septentrionalis), and woolly blue violet (Viola sororia). Common blue violet is a variable species. Identifying marks: broad, heart-shaped leaves; flowers and leaves on separate stems that arise from the roots; flowers do not stand much above the leaves (compare to marsh blue violet); and the lowest petal does not have a spur (compare to great-spurred violet).
Beyond its use as a common lawn and garden plant, Viola sororia has historically been used for food and for medicine. The flowers and leaves are edible, and some sources suggest the roots can also be eaten. The Cherokee used it to treat colds and headaches. Rafinesque, in his Medical Flora, a Manual of the Medical Botany of the United States of North America (1828–1830), wrote of Viola sororia being used by his American contemporaries for coughs, sore throats, and constipation.
Common Blue Violet - Viola sororia
Viola sororia, known commonly as the Common Blue Violet, is a stemless herbaceous perennial plant that is native to eastern North America. It is known by a number of common names including; Common Meadow Violet, Purple Violet, Woolly Blue Violet, Hooded Violet and Wood Violet.
It is the state flower of Wisconsin, Illinois, Rhode Island, and New Jersey.
Self-seeding freely, in lawns and gardens it can become a weed.
This is the violet that often grows in lawns.
White or partly-white flowers occur. Some authorities subdivide the species into broad-leaved wood violet (Viola latiuscula), common blue violet (Viola papilionacea), northern blue violet (Viola septentrionalis), and woolly blue violet (Viola sororia). Common blue violet is a variable species. Identifying marks: broad, heart-shaped leaves; flowers and leaves on separate stems that arise from the roots; flowers do not stand much above the leaves (compare to marsh blue violet); and the lowest petal does not have a spur (compare to great-spurred violet).
Beyond its use as a common lawn and garden plant, Viola sororia has historically been used for food and for medicine. The flowers and leaves are edible, and some sources suggest the roots can also be eaten. The Cherokee used it to treat colds and headaches. Rafinesque, in his Medical Flora, a Manual of the Medical Botany of the United States of North America (1828–1830), wrote of Viola sororia being used by his American contemporaries for coughs, sore throats, and constipation.