Sweet Violet Viola odorata Violaceae
Part used: Flowers, roots, leaves
Botanical description: Native to most of Europe and Asia, found in hedgerows, woodland and roadsides. The flowers and leaves are collected in the spring and the roots are harvested in the autumn. Other violets do not share the medicinal properties of the sweet violet, but may have some therapeutic use. It is a creeping perennial which can be grown from seed or can be divided in the spring.
Folklore and energetics:
When doing a tasting of a tincture we had made with a group of students from leaves harvested from a friend’s herb field this plant gave a powerful message, a flood of confidence, of downloads, being able to speak with My voice (I have often included it in medicines for teenagers threatened with tonsillectomies because they have enlarged tonsils and/or repeated tonsil infections and the tonsils normalize within two weeks).And then I started reading the folklore and came across two phrases - one was about the dark beauty that grows really shyly; also it is associated with the death of a young child. And then I realized two things - one was that the parts of my child that had died back then were resurrecting and with ita beautiful confidence; learning to say no. What an ally for reviving the voice and for bringing dead children back to life (those parts of our inner child that are so deeply buried that they feel dead). The plant is moist, and cold. The taste is mildly pungent and bitter.
Constituents Phenolic glycosides including gaultherin, Saponins including myrosin and violin, Flavonoids, Alkaloid (odoratine), Mucilage
Action Expectorant, Demulcent, Slight diaphoretic, Root is emetic at high dosage, Lymphatic
Traditional/ Current uses
· Infusion or syrup used for coughs, chest colds and catarrh
· Stomach and breast cancer
· Throat growths
· Enlarged tonsils
The flowers can be crystalissed as cake decorations and the whole flowering plant can be used to make a syrup or vinegar