Medicinally, violets have purified the blood, soothed ulcers, inflammations, and nervous headaches, and eased lung problems like asthma and bronchitis. Jethro Kloss used them, along with red clover and vervain, to treat cancer. John Heinerman considers violet syrup one of the best remedies for a sore or scratchy throat.
The leaves and blooms were occasionally added to salads. Do not consume the rhizomes, however, as they are emetic and may cause vomiting.
"Rub thy face with violets and goat's milk," an old Gaelic saying goes, "and there is not a prince in the world who will not follow thee." Considering the morbid and moody prince with whom Ophelia was burdened, that may be a mixed blessing!
Still, the duke in Twelfth Night compared the spirit of love to the sweet "sound" that breathes upon a bank of the flower. And famed gardener, Vita Sackville West, said she could almost enter into the feelings of Walter Savage Landor. That irascible writer, after tossing his cook out of a window, (presumably into a flower bed), is reputed to have exclaimed in horror, "Good God, I forgot the violets!"
Note: Photos of violets are by John Egbert, violet image by National Geographic Society, all courtesy of Michael Moore and the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine at http://chili.rt66.com/hrbmoore/HOMEPAGE/... Viola photo is by author. All rights reserved.
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