Common meadow violet, purple violet, woolly blue violet, hooded violet, wood violet, the lesbian flower, common blue violet
We traveled to Kentucky in late March to attend the funeral for my uncle George Abbott-Maze. This wonderful man helped my uncle Larry be his true self and will be remembered for his artful needle-point, delicious cooking, willingness to give fashion advice, but most of all, his sensitive and generous heart. That day, the lawn of Ascension Episcopal Church in Frankfurt was covered with the blooms of wild violets.
Violets are ancient. In fact, in the Carpathian Mountains of Poland archeologists discovered a fossilized Viola rimosa seed in a borehole sample of Middle Miocene freshwater deposits that is estimated to be 11-14 million years old.
There are over 500 different violet species across the world, at least 200 species native to North America. Violet species from the Americas lack the signature aroma of European sweet violet, Viola odorata. Nevertheless, they are beloved enough to be designated the state flower of Illinois, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Wisconsin.
BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION
Wood violets are a perennial native to eastern North America. Their alternate heart-shaped leaves have rounded teeth along the margin, a smooth, waxy surface, but can be hairy underside. The short flower stem droops slightly and can be both smooth and hairy.
This wild violet is characterized by blue-purple flowers that bloom in the spring and summer. Its five petals sport dark purple veins towards the center before fading to a white throat. The bottom three petals are typically hairy.
Violets also produce small green fruits that self-fertilize. These seed pods open into thirds and contain 20-50 tiny brown seeds. Once mature and dry, the pods will burst, spreading violet seeds for several feet.
However, the primary seed dispersal mechanism for violets is via ants in a process called myrmecochory.
Violet seeds have a protein- and lipid-rich coating known as elaiosomes. Ants gather the seeds and take them back to their nests as a food source. When the elaiosome is consumed, the naked seed is discarded.
A third method that violets spread is through their fibrous rhizomatic root systems.
MYTHOLOGY, SYMBOLISM & CULTURE
GREEK MYTHOLOGY
The violet was associated with ancient Athens because the Greek term for the flower is “ion” which was also the name of the city’s founder. According to legend, while Ion was leading his people to Attica he was greeted by water nymphs, who presented him with violets as signs of their good intentions.
In ancient Greece, the violet also symbolizes modesty, beauty and love. In one myth, Apollo, a complex god of archery, artistic expression, prophecy, healing and the Sun, was amorously pursuing one of the goddess Diana’s nymphs. Diana is associated with wildlife, hunting, the Moon and childbirth (while also being a virgin goddess). To protect her friend’s virtue from Apollo’s advances, Diana transformed the nymph into a beautiful violet.
Persephone, the daughter of the fertility goddess Demeter and herself the goddess of spring, was picking violets when Hades kidnapped her to live in the underworld.
Violets were also said to sprout wherever Orpheus, the legendary hero known for his superhuman musical skills, laid his lyre.
In another tale, Io was a priestess of Hera, the goddess of marriage and family. Hera’s husband Zeus, the god of the sky and thunder, noticed Io and began to lust after her. In one version of the story, Zeus turned Io into a heifer to hide her from his wife; in another Hera transformed Io in anger. Regardless, Io was despondent and cried at having to eat grass. According to some accounts, Zeus turned Io’s tears into violets for her to eat. In others, it was Gaia, the goddess of the earth, that created the violet out of pity so Io could eat.
ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
One day the goddess of love and beauty, Venus, was arguing with her son, Cupid, the god of love, desire, and affection.
Venus demanded that he tell her who he found more beautiful – herself or a group of girls. When Cupid chose the girls, Venus became enraged. She then beat the girls until they were blue, and they turned into violets.
CHRISTIAN FOLKLORE
Like the tale of Io’s tears turning into violets, a Christiam story recounts that when Adam was banished from the Garden of Eden, his tears also were transformed into the flower.
It has also been said that violets bloomed when the angel Gabriel told Mary she was pregnant. As a result, this flower is sometimes known as Our Lady’s Modesty and represents Mary’s humility in Christian art.
Another tale asserts that the violet was pure white and stood upright prior to the crucifixion. At that point, the flowers bowed their heads in the shadow of the cross and turned purple to show their support for Mary in her grief.
RENAISSANCE
Violets also came to symbolize loyalty as described in this verse from a 1584 song book:
“Violet is for faithfulness
Which in me shall abide
Hoping likewise that from your heart
You will not let it slide.”
The Pentamerone (1634) by Giambattista Basile is a charming story of Violet, a beautiful and clever maiden, who outwits jealous sisters, a scheming aunt, and an overly amorous suitor.
In Shakespeare violets also represented death and loss.
“Lay her i’ th’ earth,
And from her fair and unpolluted flesh
May violets spring…”
Hamlet, Act 5 Scene
“The purple violets and marigolds, Shall as a carpet hang upon thy grave.”
Pericles, Act IV, Scene 1
“That strain again, it had a dying fall.
O, it came o’er my ear like the sweet sound,
That breathes upon a bank of violets.”
Twelfth Night, Act I, Scene 1
NAPOLEON
Violet was the signature perfume of Napoleon Bonaparte’s wife, Josephine. During his exile on Elba, supporters wore violets to identify each other. However, after his army was defeated at the Battel of Waterloo, the wearing of violets was deemed seditious and public art with violets was banned in France for fifty years.
VICTORIAN ERA
Queen Victoria helped to popularize violets during the Victorian era as they were her favorite flower. She mentioned them 105 times in her personal journals. Also during this time, floriography, or the art of using flowers to communicate symbolic meanings, was all the rage. Violets symbolized faithfulness, but the various colors could assign additional meanings:
Blue – committed and loyal
White – innocence
Purple – romantic love
Yellow – modesty
During this violet craze, botanical artist Elizabeth Giraud published The Flowers from Shakespeare (1845). Excepts from Shakespeare’s plays accompany her botanical illustrations. It is noteworthy that violets are featured four times in her book more than any other flower.
Love is compared to ephemeral springtime violets in Christina Rossetti’s poem Autumn Violets.
Keep love for youth, and violets for the spring:
Or if these bloom when worn-out autumn grieves,
Let them lie hid in double shade of leaves,
Their own, and others dropped down withering;
For violets suit when home birds build and sing,
Not when the outbound bird a passage cleaves;
Not with dry stubble of mown harvest sheaves,
But when the green world buds to blossoming.
Keep violets for the spring, and love for youth,
Love that should dwell with beauty, mirth, and hope:
Or if a later sadder love be born,
Let this not look for grace beyond its scope,
But give itself, nor plead for answering truth—
A grateful Ruth tho’ gleaning scanty corn.
LGBTQ CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Violets are associated with romantic love between women. This connection can be traced back to ancient Greece and fragments of prose by Sappho (c. 630 – c. 570 BCE), the famous lyric poet from the island of Lesbos.
In one poem Sappho describes her lost love as wearing “violet tiaras, braided rosebuds, dill and crocus twined around” her neck. In another she wrote, “Many crowns of violets, roses and crocuses…together you set before more and many scented wreaths made from blossoms around your soft throat…with pure, sweet oil…you anointed me, and on a soft, gentle bed…you quenched your desire…no holy site…we left uncovered, no grove…”
La Prisonnière (The Captive) by Édouard Bourdet was one of the first plays to openly portray a lesbian relationship and a bouquet of violets was used to symbolize this love. When the play premiered on Broadway in 1926, it caused a scandal that contributed to the passing of the Wales Padlock Act, a New York state law that prohibited discussion or performance of homosexuality in theaters until it was repealed in 1967.
In the twentieth century, violets pinned to lapels and belts or given as gifts were a secret code for LGBTQ people to communicate their identity and find community in an era when same-sex relationships were criminalized.
TRADITIONAL USES
Medicinal
The medieval German visionary abbess, Hildegard von Bingen (1151-1158), wrote in her seminal medical text, Physica,
“Anyone oppressed by melancholy with a discontented mind, which then harms his lungs, should cook violets in pure wine. He should strain this through a cloth, add a bit of galingale, and as much licorice as he wants, and so make spiced wine. When he drinks it, it will check the melancholy, make him happy, and heal his lungs.”
Shakespeare’s contemporary, the English herbalist John Gerard (1545–1612) described traditional European applications for violet as, “It has power to ease inflammation, roughness of the throat and comforteth the heart, assumageth the pains of the head, and causeth sleep.”
In North America, the wild violet has historically been used by many indigenous people. Known as waawiye-bagag, violets are used by the Ojibwe as both a medicinal and culinary plant. The Cherokee used it specifically to treat colds and headaches, and the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe of the Pacific Northwest used a poultice of the flowers topically to reduce pain.
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 for coughs, sore throats, and constipation.
Contemporary herbalists categorize violets as a demulcent and use violet leaf infusions or tinctures usage for the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems. Violet is said to be an effective treatment for headaches, anxiety, and insomnia. Topical preparations of the leaves can be used to treat lymphedema, soften fibrous breast tissue, and alleviate insect bites, rashes and other skin irritations. Violet leaves contain salicylic acid, an anti-inflammatory that reduces pain and swelling. Violet leaves are also high in vitamins A and C and the antioxidant rutin. These components are anti-inflammatory and said to have specific beneficial effects on varicose veins and the circulatory system (perhaps influencing the common name “heartsease”). The flowers are also mildly diuretic.
Culinary
Leaves can be eaten fresh, sautéed, steamed or added to soup; whereas flowers can be added fresh to salads or simply used as a garnish. The blossoms can also be candied, used to make jellies and syrups, or added to cakes or pancakes. The blossoms can also used to make wine and liqueurs.
Caution: Wild violet leaves contain saponins or soap-like compounds, which can cause digestive upset when eaten in very large quantities. The roots are also said to be inedible and can cause gastrointestinal distress.
RECIPES
Candied Violets
I have made candied violets before using egg whites but found the entire process very messy and sticky. A vegan substitution for egg whites is garbanzo bean water (the liquid drained from a can of garbanzo beans) known as aquafaba. I decided to give this a try and found it to be superior.
- Gather wild violet blossoms
- Working with one violet flower at a time, hold the flower stem and dip into the aquafaba so that both the front and back of the petals are coated.
- Next, dip into sugar and cover completely. I occassionally needed to use tweezers to maneuver the delicate petals.
- Place in dehydrator and dry for at least 24 hours.
Violet Ice Cream
This was a bit of a series of mishaps and learning experience. I started by making a violet simple syrup, but unfortunately, left the green stems and calyx intact which imparted a green hue to the syrup.
Since the treasured violet hue was lost, I decided to lean into my mistake and get creative.
I first added the adaptogen ashwagandha, but since it is has a bitter flavor, I also added Chinese Five Spice, typically a blend of star anise, fennel, cloves, cinnamon, and Sichuan pepper. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, this spice is thought to balance the five elements in the body – wood, fire, earth, metal, and water.
The result was pleasantly peppery and anise tasting syrup, but the color was a drab green. Plan B was to combine with heavy cream and make ice cream!
The flavor was very unique and enjoyable, but the ice cream refused to freeze well so I suspect the ratio of sugar to fat was too high.
Violet Ice Cubes
Violet ice cubes add an elegant touch to drinks.
Shown here with Lindera Farm’s Shenandoah Cola Drinking Vinegar and seltzer.
References
Adamant, A. (2025, February 22). 30+ ways to use wild violets. Practical Self Reliance. https://practicalselfreliance.com/wild-violet-uses/
Adkins Arboretum. (2024). Violet. Indigenous Peoples’ Perspectives Project. https://www.adkinsarboretum.org/programs_events/ipp/violet.html
Blankespoor, J. (2023, June 9). Violet’s edible and medicinal uses. Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine. https://chestnutherbs.com/violets-edible-and-medicinal-uses/
Burley, N. (2024). Wild violet. University of Minnesota Extension. https://extension.umn.edu/weeds/wild-violet
Doleschal, M. (2021, May 27). Shakespeare’s favourite flowers: The violet. https://www.shakespeare.org.uk/explore-shakespeare/blogs/sweet-sound-breathes-upon-bank-violets-meaning-violet-shakespeares-plays/
Gwyn. (2021, April 7). Green witch plant profile: Wild violets for food, medicine, magick. https://www.patheos.com/blogs/3pagansandacat/2021/04/green-witch-plant-profile-wild-violets-for-food-medicine-magick/#:~:text=Violets%20in%20Magick%201%20Wear%20violet%20in%20a,the%20blossoms%20in%20a%20ritual%20bath%20for%20healing.
Kentucky Native Plant Society. (1992, November). The genus Viola (Violaceae) The Violets. The Lady Slipper, 7(4). https://www.knps.org/from-the-lady-slipper-archive-the-genus-viola-violaceae-the-violets/
Krohn, E. (n.d.). Violet. Wild Foods and Medicines. https://wildfoodsandmedicines.com/violet/
Luu, T. (2021, December 21). Queer botany: The sapphic violet. University of Washington Botanic Gardens. https://botanicgardens.uw.edu/about/blog/2021/12/21/queer-botany-the-sapphic-violet/
Miller, M. (n.d.). Hildegard von Bingen’s violet wine. Tasting History. https://www.tastinghistory.com/recipes/violetwine
Sedgwick, I. 2019, February 16). Violets are blue: The folklore of February’s birth flower. https://www.icysedgwick.com/violets-folklore/
Subscribe and get wild foods . . .
Straight to your inbox!
Disclaimer: Information contained on this website should not be considered as a recommendation or an endorsement. This information is intended for educational purposes only, and is strictly and categorically intended as a reference to be used in conjunction with plant experts in your area. Roaming Roots accepts no liability for the use or misuse of information contained in this website. Consumption of plants and fungi is at the reader’s own risk and discretion.
Leave a Reply