{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}} {{Speciesbox | image = Viola odorata fg01.JPG | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | genus = Viola (plant) | species = odorata | authority = L. | subdivision_ranks = Subspecies | subdivision = * ''Viola odorata'' subsp. ''odorata'' * ''Viola odorata'' subsp. ''stolonifera'' {{small|(J.J.Rodr.) J.J.Orell & Romo}} | subdivision_ref = <ref name="powo">{{cite web |title=''Viola odorata'' L. |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:868828-1 |website=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |access-date=13 February 2025}}</ref> | synonyms = * ''Viola hirta'' var. ''odorata'' {{small|(L.) Fiori}} * ''Viola hirta'' subsp. ''odorata'' {{small|(L.) Fiori}} * ''Viola martii'' subsp. ''odorata'' {{small|(L.) Schimp. & Spenn.}} | synonyms_ref = <ref name="powo"/> }}
'''''Viola odorata''''' is a species of flowering plant in the family Violaceae. The small hardy herbaceous perennial is commonly known as '''wood violet''',<ref name="AsakawaAsakawa2001">{{cite book |first1=Bruce |last1=Asakawa |first2=Sharon |last2=Asakawa |title=California Gardener's Guide |url=https://archive.org/details/brucesharonasaka00asak |url-access=registration |access-date=25 November 2011 |date=3 September 2001 |publisher=Cool Springs Press |isbn=978-1-930604-47-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/brucesharonasaka00asak/page/38 38]–39}}</ref> '''sweet violet''',<ref name="GRIN">{{GRIN|access-date=18 December 2017}}</ref> '''English violet''',<ref name="GRIN"/> '''common violet''',<ref name="GRIN"/> '''florist's violet''',<ref name="GRIN"/> or '''garden violet'''.<ref name="GRIN"/>
The plant is native to Eurasia. The leaves and flowers are edible and have been used to make fragrances.
== Description<span class="anchor" id="Characteristics"></span> == ''Viola odorata'' spreads with stolons (above-ground shoots). The plant reaches {{Convert|15|cm|frac=4}} in height.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Francis-Baker |first=Tiffany |title=Concise Foraging Guide |date=2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-4729-8474-6 |series=The Wildlife Trusts |location=London |page=44}}</ref> The leaves and stems are all in a basal rosette. The leaf stalks have downward-pointing hairs. The leaves are kidney-shaped and reach {{Convert|6|cm|abbr=on|frac=2}} long.<ref name=":0" />
The flowers are normally either dark violet or white and are scented.<ref name="AsakawaAsakawa2001" /> The style is hooked (and does not end with a rounded appendage). The perennial flowers mature when the plant is at a height of {{convert|4-6|in|cm|abbr=on|order=flip}} and a spread of {{convert|8-24|in|cm|abbr=on|order=flip}}.<ref name="AsakawaAsakawa2001" />
=== Chemistry === The plant contains the alkaloid violin, about 30 cyclotides, and triterpenoids, mostly as constituents of the essential oil.{{cn|date=May 2024}}
== Subspecies == Two subspecies are accepted: * ''Viola odorata'' subsp. ''odorata'' – entire range ; * ''Viola odorata'' subsp. ''stolonifera'' {{small|(J.J.Rodr.) J.J.Orell & Romo}} – Balearic Islands.
== Distribution and habitat == ''Viola odorata'' is native to Europe south of Scandinavia, northwest Africa (Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia), Macaronesia, the Caucasus, Western Asia, and Kazakhstan. It has been introduced to the Americas, Scandinavia, southern and eastern Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.<ref name="powo"/> The species can be found near the edges of forests or in clearings; it is also a common "uninvited guest" in shaded lawns or elsewhere in gardens.{{cn|date=August 2023}}
== Uses == The leaves and flowers are edible.<ref>{{cite web |title=Edible Flowers Violets |url=https://www.garden.org/ediblelandscaping/?page=edible-month-violets}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> Real violet flower extract is available for culinary uses, especially in European countries.{{cn|date=August 2023}} The French are known for their violet syrup, most commonly made from an extract of violets.{{cn|date=August 2023}} In the United States, this French violet syrup is used to make violet scones and marshmallows.{{cn|date=August 2023}}
Several cultivars have been selected for garden use, of which ''V. odorata'' 'Wellsiana' has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/54755/Viola-odorata-Wellsiana-(Vt)/Details |title=Viola odorata "Wellsiana" (Vt) |work=Royal Horticural Society |access-date=1 March 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/pdfs/agm-lists/agm-ornamentals.pdf |title=AGM Plants - Ornamental |date=July 2017 |page=107 |publisher=Royal Horticultural Society |access-date=18 February 2019}}</ref>
The sweet scent of this flower has proved popular, particularly in the late Victorian period, and has consequently been used in the production of many cosmetic fragrances and perfumes.<ref name="Steffen Arctander 1961">Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin by Steffen Arctander, First published 1961, {{ISBN|0-931710-36-7}}, {{ISBN|978-0-931710-36-0}}</ref> There is some doubt as to whether the true extract of the violet flower is still used commercially in perfumes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Violet |url=http://www.fragrantica.com/notes/Violet-116.html |work=fragrantica}}</ref> It was still used in the early 20th century,<ref name="ReferenceA" /> but by the time Steffen Arctander was writing in the late 1950s and early 1960s, production had "almost disappeared".<ref name="Steffen Arctander 1961" /> Violet leaf absolute, however, remains widely used in modern perfumery.<ref>Curtis & Williams (2009), ''An Introduction to Perfumery'', 2nd Edition {{ISBN|978-0-9608752-8-3}}, {{ISBN|978-1-870228-24-4}}.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Essential oils |url=http://www.bojensen.net/EssentialOilsEng/EssentialOils31/EssentialOils31.htm |work=Bo Jensen}}</ref>
The scent of violet flowers is distinctive with only a few other flowers having a remotely similar odor. References to violets and the desirable nature of the fragrance go back to classical sources such as Pliny and Horace when the name "Ion" was in use to describe this flower from which the name of the distinctive chemical constituents of the flower, the ionones, is derived. In 1923, W. A. Poucher wrote that the flowers were widely cultivated both in Europe and the East for their fragrance, with both the flowers and leaves being separately collected and extracted for fragrance, and flowers also collected for use in confectionery {{Wikt-lang|en|galenical|galenical|i=no}} syrup<ref name="ReferenceA">Poucher, W.A. (1923), ''Perfumes Cosmetics and Soaps'', Vol. 2, Chapter V: Monographs on Flower Perfumes.</ref> and in the production of medicine.{{cn|date=August 2023}}
The plant contains a cannabinoid peptide called "vodo-C1" that acts in vitro as a selective CB2 receptor agonist without CB1 activity.<ref name="toma">{{cite journal |last=Tomašević |first=Nataša |last2=Emser |first2=Fabiola Susanna |last3=Muratspahić |first3=Edin |last4=Gattringer |first4=Jasmin |last5=Hasinger |first5=Simon |last6=Hellinger |first6=Roland |last7=Keov |first7=Peter |last8=Felkl |first8=Manuel |last9=Gertsch |first9=Jürg |last10=Becker |first10=Christian F.W. |last11=Gruber |first11=Christian W. |display-authors=3 |date=2024 |title=Discovery and development of macrocyclic peptide modulators of the cannabinoid 2 receptor |url=https://www.jbc.org/article/S0021-9258(24)01831-3/fulltext |journal=Journal of Biological Chemistry |article-number=107330 |doi=10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107330 |pmc=11154713 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
== In culture == The violet flower was a favorite in ancient Greece and became the symbol of Athens. The scent suggested sex, so the violet was an emblematic flower of Aphrodite and of her son, Priapus, the deity of gardens and generation.<ref>{{cite book |first=Audrey Wynne |last=Hatfield |date=1973 |title=A Herb for Every Ill |url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0460078658 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |page=173}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Margaret |last=Roberts |date=2000 |title=Edible & Medicinal Flowers|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0864864671 |publisher=New Africa Books |page=79}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Christopher |last=Cumo |date=2013 |title=Encyclopedia of Cultivated Plants |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ja7WAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA1113 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |page=1113 |isbn=978-1-59884-775-8}}</ref>
Iamus was a son of Apollo and the nymph Evadne. He was abandoned by his mother at birth. She left him lying in the Arkadian wilds on a bed of violets where he was fed honey by serpents. Eventually, he was discovered by passing shepherds who named him Iamus after the violet (''ion'') bed.{{cn|date=August 2023}}
The goddess Persephone and her companion Nymphs were gathering rose, crocus, violet, iris, lily, and larkspur blooms in a springtime meadow when she was abducted by the god Hades.<ref>{{cite web |title=Plants and flowers of Greek myth |url=http://www.theoi.com/Flora2.html |publisher=Theoi Project}}</ref>
== Gallery == <gallery> Viola odorata4 ies.jpg Viola_odorata_whole.png|Form, with stolons visible VioletteBlanche.jpg|White ''V. odorata'' Viole.jpg </gallery>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == {{Commons|Viola odorata}}
* {{APNI | name = Viola odorata L. | id = 40579}} * [http://www.americanvioletsociety.org/ The American Violet Society] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150801061128/http://americanvioletsociety.org/ |date=2015-08-01}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q108684}} {{Authority control}}
odorata Category:Flora of Europe Category:Flora of Algeria Category:Flora of the Caucasus Category:Flora of Kazakhstan Category:Flora of Morocco Category:Flora of Tunisia Category:Flora of Western Asia Category:Medicinal plants Category:Plants described in 1753 Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus