Viola pedunculata
| Viola pedunculata | |
| Light: |   |
| Moisture: |  |
| Hardiness: | 8 |
| Soil pH: | 5.6-7.3 |
| Blooms: | Late Spring |
| Native to: | |
| Edible Rating: |  |
| Tea: | Yes |
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Viola pedunculata (common name: grass pansy)
Propagation: Seed - best sown in the autumn in a cold frame. Sow stored seed in early spring in a cold frame. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and plant them out in the summer.
Division in the autumn or just after flowering. Larger divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions, though we have found that it is best to pot up smaller divisions and grow them on in light shade in a greenhouse or cold frame until they are growing away well. Plant them out in the summer or the following spring.
Cultivation: Prefers a cool moist well-drained humus-rich soil in partial or dappled shade and protection from scorching winds. Tolerates sandstone and limestone soils but becomes chlorotic if the pH is too high. Prefers a pH between 6 and 6.5[1].
Plants are not very hardy in Britain, though they should succeed outdoors in the milder areas of the country[2].
Plants grow and flower during the winter and early spring in California, dying down in the summer[2].
All members of this genus have more or less edible leaves and flower buds, though those species, such as this one, that have yellow flowers can cause diarrhoea if eaten in large quantities[3][4][5].
Range: South-western N. America - California.
Habitat: Grassy slopes below 450 metres[6].
Edibility: Young leaves and flower buds - raw or cooked[7][8][9]. When added to soup they thicken it in much the same way as okra[4][5]. The leaves are best harvested before the flowers open in the spring[10]. Some caution is advised, the yellow flowers of this species can cause diarrhoea if eaten in large quantities[3].
A tea can be made from the leaves[4].
Pollinators: Insects
Soil: Can grow in light, medium, and heavy soils.
Drainage: Prefers well drained soil.
Flower Type: Hermaphrodite
Links
References
- ↑ Huxley, Anthony. The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening. MacMillan Press, 1992.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chittendon, Fred. RHS Dictionary of Plants. Oxford University Press, 1951.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Elias, Thomas. A Field Guide to North American Edible Wild Plants. Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1982.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Harrington, Harold. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press, 1967.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 McPherson, Alan and Sue McPherson. Wild Food Plants of Indiana. Indiana University Press, 1977.
- ↑ Munz, David. A California Flora. University of California Press, 1959.
- ↑ Tanaka, Tyōzaburō. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing, 1976.
- ↑ Yanovsky, Elias. Food Plants of the North American Indians Publication 237. US Department of Agriculture.
- ↑ Kunkel, Günther. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books, 1984.
- ↑ Moerman, Daniel. Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press, 1998.