Dog Violet

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Dog violet (lat. Viola canina) - a herbaceous rhizomatous perennial plant of the genus Violet (lat. Viola) of the family of the same name Violet (lat. Violaceae). The blooming of light blue-purple flowers from April to June, perhaps, pleases the dogs, only they cannot tell about it. Although such a specific epithet botanists gave the plant not for a dog's love for delicate flowers, but for a completely different reason. The plant is used in cultural gardening. The grass and roots of Violet canine have healing powers.

What's in your name

Dog violet does not change the tradition of the genus, painting delicate flower petals in purple tones. After all, the Latin word "Viola" means "purple".

The specific epithet "canina", which is translated from Latin as "dog", was assigned to this species not for the dog's love for the plant, nor for the external resemblance to similar living creatures, but for the fact that when botanists first began to describe this type of Violet, they why -to attributed it to useless plants growing wild. When they figured out the plant, having learned about its abilities, they realized that they had undeservedly offended the graceful and gentle Violet, which also has healing powers, but the old name remained with the plant.

Description

The guarantor of the longevity of Violet canine is a short thin rhizome with a dense network of adventitious roots. For the winter period, the aboveground part of the plant dies off, and renewal buds remain on the rhizome, located at the soil levels, from which new stems revive in early spring.

Unlike many species of the genus Violet, which do not have a stem, and the leaves grow directly from the rhizome, forming a basal rosette, in Violet Dogs from the rhizome, numerous leafy stems emerge from the rhizome to the surface of the earth, the number of which can be from 5 to 12 pieces. Stems are ascending, undersized, forming an independent ground cover curtain. The stems can be bare or covered with light pubescence.

Petiole leaves are located along the length of the stem, which are either naked or have a slight pubescence at the base of the leaf plate. The leaves, located in the middle of the stem, have lanceolate stipules. The shape of the leaf plate is from lanceolate to ovoid-cordate with small denticles along the edge.

In May-June, 5-petal flowers are born in the axils of leaves on long pedicels. They are of traditional irregular shape, bisexual, the lower petal of the flower with a spur. The color of the petals is light blue or light purple, with a white throat and five yellow stamens surrounding a unilocular ovary. Flowering can be repeated at the end of summer.

The crown of the growing cycle is the fruit - the seed capsule. When the seeds are fully ripe, the three shells of the capsule crack, ejecting seeds around the mother plant within a radius of one meter. Ants are engaged in further transportation of seeds.

Dog violets are indicative of acidic soil.

Usage

Although the chemical composition of Violet canine has been little studied, traditional healers have long used the roots and herb of the plant to treat a number of human ailments.

As shown by centuries of experience, the Dog Violet, like its many relatives, is able to help people when they need pain relief, resist the inflammatory process, relieve coughing, and aid digestion. Violet dog is used in the form of herbal infusions and preparations from the roots of the plant.

Delicate spring bloom will decorate any type of flower garden. Low-growing bushes will harmoniously fit into a rocky hill, serve as the foreground of a mixborder or become a picturesque border of a garden path.