Violets - common violet (viola sororia) sweet violet (viola ordorata)

ENERGETICS - Cooling & Moistening

FAMILY - Viola spp.

HABITAT - Shady cool damp areas but does like the sun too.

BEST TIME TO HARVEST - Leaves throughout the year and the flowers in the spring.

Violets are one of my favourite spring flowers, a very intricate design and such a beautiful bright colour but often ignored as it is quite a shy plant and likes to hide around the base of trees and in the wayside along paths.

Both the violets are edible and when you eat a leaf and the leaf breaks down in your mouth you get to sample the mucilaginous texture, slightly slimy but not unpleasant, it also has a slight salty taste and is quite sweet, they can be eaten in salads and the flowers used to decorate cakes. (be careful to identify properly).

Being a plant that really comes to life in the spring with it's gorgeous little flowers it is considered a spring cleansing plant as nature gifts us everything we need if we have a little knowledge to hand.

So most spring cleansing plants can help with the removal of stagnant energies and possibly the accumulation of heaviness that the winter gives us with heavy food, less light and exercise. Violet helps to stimulate the immune system and clean your blood.

How to use - Use a leaf and a flower to make a spring tea - this can help with sore throats, dry coughs, sinus and bronchial conditions, and can even help relieve pain!

Violet tea can also be used topically for many skin conditions including - skin rashes, insect bites, eczema, cuts and grazes. Violets has anti-septic properties and can help relieve pain. A tea could be added to bath water to help with painful conditions like arthritis.

Violet infused oil - Can be used to massage and help move stagnant waste through the lymphatic system.

A poultice of leaves and flowers could be made and applied directly to joint pain.

N.B. Roots and Seeds must not be eaten or used. Violet is much easier to detect when in flower.