Pansies – Viola tricolor hortensis

Pansies

Pansies

O give me not red roses,
That early dews have wet!
They speak to me of kisses
That are remembered yet.
 
O bring me not white roses,
That summer winds have drest!
For once I placed white roses
Upon a quiet breast.
 
But bring me purple pansies
If so you wish to please, 
                                                                                                              For them I have affection;
                                                                                                              For pansies are “heart’s ease”.

^__Louisa Cooke Don-Carlos.

 

Pansy, the word comes from the French penseé meaning “thought”. In the language of flowers leaving someone a pansy means “thinking of you,” again reflecting the name.

Like so many in the Violet family, Pansy is so much more than it appears. The pretty little pansy is used in treating skin conditions. In herbal medicine pansies are made into a tincture to soothe rashes and to calm acne, psoriasis and eczema. Drinking tea made of pansies can be beneficial in the treatment of lung conditions, such as bronchitis and whooping cough.

Pansies are edible and are healthy for you too. Pansies contain Vitamin C and Vitamin A. They are made into beautiful garnishes for many vegetable dishes, salads, sandwiches and even desserts. Candied flowers have made beautiful wedding cake presentations, with Pansies and violets being some of the leaders. Pansies aren’t only used as garnishes for food and drinks. They can also be added to many other types of dishes, such as appetizers, omelets, soups, salads, pasta, fish, chicken and desserts. Pansies and violets can also be dried for teas to relax with or teas to heal the body. They can be made into lovely flavored vinegars and liqueurs too.

Pansy Eggs

For 1 serving:

2 eggs (preferably free range, organic eggs)

Pinch of garlic

2 tblsp grated parmesan cheese

A handful of pansies and violets

Salt and Pepper to taste

Scramble the eggs with the garlic and cheese. Turn the eggs into a heated skillet and cook…close to when the cooking is done toss in the pansies and continue to scramble until done. Serve hot

Johnny Jump Up – Viola tricolor

Johnny Jump Up or Heart’s Ease

Native to a wide European range including Britain, from Scandinavia south and east to Corsica, W. Asia, Siberia, Caucasus but brought to North America where it has naturalized and can be found in many waste places and areas of disturbed ground.

Like other plants in its family the flowers and leaves are edible and relatively high in Vitamin C. When the flowers and leaves are added to soups or stews they will thicken the broth, much like okra does. The leaves make an interesting tea, and the flowers are added to salads as a very pretty garnish!

According to Plants For A Future….”Heartsease has a long history of herbal use and was at one time in high repute as a treatment for epilepsy, asthma, skin diseases and a wide range of other complaints. In modern Herbalism it is seen as a purifying herb and is taken internally in the treatment of skin complaints such as eczema. The herb is anodyne, anti-asthmatic, anti-inflammatory, cardiac, demulcent, depurative, diaphoretic, diuretic, emollient, expectorant, laxative and vulnerary. Being expectorant, it is used in the treatment of various chest complaints such as bronchitis and whooping cough, whilst its diuretic action makes it useful for treating rheumatism, cystitis and difficulty in passing urine. It is also used as an ointment for treating eczema and other skin complaints and is also useful in cases of rheumatism, bed-wetting etc. The plant is harvested from June to August and dried for later use. The root is emetic. A homeopathic remedy is made from the entire plant. It is used in the treatment of cutaneous eruptions.”

Depending on mordant usage, the flowers can produce yellow, green or blue-green dye.

Common Blue Violet – Viola odorata

Common Blue Violet

Down in a green and shady bed,
A modest violet grew;
Its stalk was bent, it hung its head
As if to hide from view.
And yet it was a lovely flower,
Its colour bright and fair;
It might have graced a rosy bower,
Instead of hiding there.

Yet thus it was content to bloom,
In modest tints arrayed;
And there diffused a sweet perfume,
Within the silent shade.

Then let me to the valley go
This pretty flower to see;
That I may also learn to grow
In sweet humility.

Jane Taylor

As a child I believed that the violets were the homes of all fairies, you couldn’t convince me otherwise. I had actually seen a small person wearing a violet flower for a cap, sitting under a leaf for shelter during a shower! Everyone thought I was crazy….then I grew up. I don’t know anymore that what I believed then is true or not…But I sure do wish to believe!

In Macer’s Herbal (tenth century) the Violet is among the many herbs, which were considered powerful against ‘wykked sperytis.’ (see fairies are not wicked)

The violets were employed as Syrup of Violets and administered as a gentle laxative. Syrop Violae of the British Pharmacopoeia directs that it may be given as a laxative to infants in doses of 1/2 to 1 teaspoonful. The older writers had great faith in Syrup of Violets. Ague, epilepsy, inflammation of the eyes, sleeplessness, pleurisy, and jaundice are only a few of the ailments for which it was held potent. Gerard says: ‘It has power to ease inflammation, roughness of the throat and comforteth the heart, assuageth the pains of the head and causeth sleep.

A recipe, from a seventeenth century recipe book:

‘Sirrup of Violets

‘Take a quantity of Blew Violets, clip off the whites and pound them well in a stone morter; then take as much fair running water as will sufficiently moysten them and mix with the Violets; strain them all; and to every halfe pint of the liquor put one pound of the best loafe sugar; set it on the fire, putting the sugar in as it melts, still stirring it; let it boyle but once or twice att the most; then take it from the fire, and keep it to your use. This is a daynty sirrup of Violets.’