Early Blue Violet

 

What a marvellous sight a clearing with the ground covered in vibrant blue violets is! The smell is soothing and the heart-shaped leaves welcome you to sit down for a while and relax. As the sunlight plays through the trees and the chickadees serenade one another with their spring "hi sweety" call, I marvel at the preciousness of this moment. This moment, I can feel completely at  peace hanging out with the Early Blue Violet (Viola adunca).

 

Description:   

Flowers have the distinct shape of violets; five petals -- two at the top and three at the bottom. At the back of the flower there is a spur, a rounded heel-like protrusion. It's approximately half the length of the bottom petals. The flower of this particular violet ranges between vivid blue to a more subtle purple. Their scent is unmistakable.

Leaves are heart-shaped with jagged edges. It is sometimes hard to see, but they are covered in tiny hairs. They are bright green when new and dark green throughout the summer.

 

Seed pod forms under the leaves, close to the ground. It is mottled white and purple and when the seed within it is ripe it catapults the seed away from the mother plant. Ants carry the seed underground, their reward, a fatty substance that coat the seed. They feed this to their babies and the violet gets a lift underground to perfect growing conditions as an exchange. How ingenious is that!

 

Root is a rhizome.

Do not ingest seeds and roots! They are poisonous and can cause respiratory and circulatory problems.

Important fact!

Viola adunca is hugely important for some Zerene fritillaries butterflies (Speyeria spp). Their larva feed solely on early blue violet. They also pupate in the violet debris. Without this plant they will no longer exist and many of the species are on the endangered list. These violets should be encouraged to take over our lawns to give these beautiful butterflies a chance of survival. Be mindful that what might appear to you as ugly old plant matter can be a nursery to a species on the brink of extinction. Don’t clean it away, leave it. If you wildcraft this species do it gingerly and make sure that any critters in and amongst the violets do not get injured! In some provinces this plant is considered vulnerable. If that's the case in your area, avoid harvesting any at all.

Here on the farm we are lucky to have several healthy patches of early blue violet. Now in April we harvest the flowers. I like putting them in a jar of water and setting that jar on the windowsill to infuse. After a day or two the water smells lovely and will keep its scent even through freezing. The water I like to use to wash my skin and drink. Sometimes I pull one of these jars out of the freezer in winter just to smell it. Instant transportation to spring! It can really lift your spirits in the darkest month of the year.

The flowers are also lovely placed in sugar and left for a few days. The violets will become coated in the sugar and the sugar will take on the mouth-watering smell and taste of the flowers. The sugared violets we use as topping for our morning yoghurt. The sugar we use to bake sugar cookies with. Make sure to not add any strong flavours to your cookie dough as it will overpower the violet scent.

Violets scent is magical, one moment it is there, the next gone, only to come back again after a few minutes. The reason for this is the ionone that gives the violet its scent. Once the ionone has stimulated your scent receptors it shuts them down temporarily. It shuts them off completely. A few more moments go by and the brain is not registering any scent at all. You are now experiencing anosmia (loss of sense of smell or smell blindness). Then the scent comes back and the brain registers it as a new stimulus and the cycle continues. That is why it so hard to pin down the scent of violet.

The leaves can also be used. I pick them throughout the summer and and cook them and add them to lasagna, quiche and spanakopita. Any recipe that calls for spinach works well for the violet leaves. Make sure to not consume too much though as it can cause digestive upset.

Enjoy your spring time and be sure to stop and smell the flowers, fleeting as it may be.💗