Violet Veil: description, photo

In nature, there are a lot of different forms of wild violets, which differ from garden and houseplants in size, coloring of leaves and flowers. One of the representatives of the family is the violet violet, the photo of which is in front of you. For what she got such a name, it is not known. It is clear only that it is a literal translation of the Latin name into Russian. In the people this plant is called so: a birch, an ex-grass, a core, a violet, a forest brother.

Violet cane: a botanical description of the plant

The plant is interesting, although it is not too conspicuous. It is perennial with a height of 5-30 cm. The rhizome is short. Flowers, like the other violets, are five-membered. Petals are light purple or pale blue. There are several on one stem. Flowering continues from the beginning of spring to June. There are cases when the violet dog again blooms in the very end of summer.

Leaves cauline with petioles, glabrous, sometimes slightly pubescent at the base. Basal foliage begins to grow only after flowering. Leaves are ovate or lanceolate, obtuse. Stipules fimbriated. The stems are numerous, upright or ascending, without radical rosettes. The whole plant is slightly hairy, it is naked.

The violet of a dog is a myrmecophile plant. After all, its seeds are pulled by ants ("myrmekos" in Greek) for long distances. The fruit ripens in June, when cracked, twisted leaves scatter seeds that are equipped with a special body that attracts ants.

Violet can be considered self-pollinating. This is a group of plants in which the development of seeds occurs without an obvious flower, that is, it does not open. Violet flowers blossom in the spring, but there are some that can not be seen at all.

Violet Veil: Place of Growth

Like many other species of violets, for this wild plant the favorite place of growth is forest and fringe biotopes. For its flowering can be observed in May, being at the edge of a forest or even in an open place along the banks of water bodies.

The violet of a dog prefers to grow in a meadow, dry sandy slope, in glades, along roadsides, near water bodies. It is suitable for soil rich in mineral substances thickets of shrubs and deciduous forests. Most often this violet occurs in the non-chernozem regions.

The area of violets

Geography of the genus is very wide. Violets can grow in areas with a temperate climate, in the subtropics, in the tropics. Having such a large area, all violets are very similar when choosing habitats. In our forests grows a look very much like a fragrant violet - a dog's violet. Its common distribution is the Atlantic Europe, the countries of Central Europe and Scandinavia, the Caucasus, the Northern Mediterranean. This plant is found everywhere in the European part of Russia, in Western and Eastern Siberia. The range of violets is also Belarus, Ukraine, some regions of Asia.

The meaning and application of violets

Violets are often used in decorative gardening. It decorates flower beds, borders, mixborders. It is planted on rocky slides.

Violet cane as a fodder culture is not of particular value. The main useful properties of plants are used in medical practice and decorative gardening.

The plant is rich in essential oils, salicylic acid. It contains anthocyanins and traces of alkaloids. All this made the violet a canine medicinal plant. The healing properties are the roots, stems and leaves of the plant, which are widely used by folk healers. In Western Europe, decoction of herbs is used as an expectorant. Herbalists of Belarus consider it useful to drink tea from grass with heart disease.

Violet cane (photo of the plant see below) is used in folk medicine as a laxative and diuretic, as well as an anesthetic and anti-inflammatory agent. Water infusion effectively acts in the treatment of diseases of the throat and bronchi, its use is recommended for tumors. Drugs from the roots are used as a strong emetic. With skin itch and abscesses, aromatic violet oil is used.

Nature gives us a lot of medicinal plants, the dog's violet also is on this huge list. We can only learn about these or other useful properties and use them for health.