Viola sororia


Viola sororia, known commonly as the common blue violet, is a short-stemmed 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, the lesbian flower, woolly blue violet, hooded violet, and wood violet. Its cultivar 'Albiflora' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Self-seeding freely, in lawns and gardens it can be considered a weed by some. Cleistogamous seed heads may also appear on short stems in late summer and early autumn.

Taxonomy

Hairless common blue violets with purple flowers and bearded spurred petals have been variously called Viola sororia, V. affinis, and V. pratincola. In the Chicago region, this hairless form is most frequently found in weedy areas such as old fields and lawns. Hairy purple violets with blue flowers have been called "true" Viola sororia and are rarely seen outside of remnant wooded areas.
A form with white flowers that have a purple center has been called Viola sororia fo. priceana.
Viola sororia has several named hybrids:
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, wrote of Viola sororia being used by his American contemporaries for coughs, sore throats, and constipation.
The leaves are high in vitamins A and C and can be eaten raw. The flowers have been made into jelly and candy.

Ecology

The caterpillars of fritillary butterflies feed on these plants. The plants also serve as food for wild turkeys, rabbits, deer, livestock, the mourning dove, the bobwhite, and the white-footed mouse.

Cultural significance

It is the state flower of Illinois, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Wisconsin.

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