Consider-the-Lilies Web Gallery
Field Pansy
Not one to assert itself, unlike the equally tiny, but more aggressive, Deptford Pink or Blue-eyed Grass, this delicate native Viola doesn't fight its way to sunlight.
It is often found making its home in the shade, beneath the taller growth, just an inch or so above the ground.
This is where this colony was found in this Shenandoah Valley field.
Once I knew where and what to look for, however, I found several other plants nestled in the shade at the base of some sedge in a rough area on my own property. This was somewhat of a surprise because I had cut that section just a few days before this discovery.
It is this characteristic of seemingly sudden appearance that has led to Viola bicolor being dubbed "Johnny-jump-up" in some parts of the United States.
This name is also used for its domesticated cousin, the familiar miniature garden pansy, Viola tricolor, with its more intensely colored purple, white and yellow petals.
Every spring we are surprised when its blooms appear before we realized it was growing in our flower garden .
This
wild viola was prized by the Cherokee for its several medicinal properties. It
was made into a poultice and applied as a analgesic to relieve headaches, and
also was used to relieve the pain from swollen boils; in addition, it was drunk in an infusion for dysentery, and with honey for a cough.
A medicine chest all in one little plant!
And what I found even more interesting, it was also used as an insecticide by this tribe. They soaked their seed corn in an solution made from the root of this plant to repel insects.
So the versatile Viola
bicolor isn't just a pretty face!
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