Viola Phillipina: Unveiling the Beauty of Wild Pansies

The Viola phillipina, also known as the Wild Pansy or Smooth Pansy, is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the Violet family. It is stemless and stands 4 to 14 cm tall. During fruiting season, it can reach up to 20 cm in height.

The lower leaves are generally triangular-ovate or narrow ovate, while the upper leaves are longer, appearing as oblong, narrow ovate-lanceolate, or oblong-ovate. The flowers are medium-sized and come in a violet or light purple color, occasionally appearing white.

The throat of the flower is lighter with purple stripes. The fruit is an oblong capsule, 5 to 12mm long, with ovoid seeds about 1.8mm in length and light yellow in color. The flowering and fruiting period lasts from mid-late April to September.

The entire plant is used medicinally for its heat-clearing, detoxifying, blood-cooling, and swelling-reducing properties. The young leaves can be used as vegetables, and the plant can serve as an ornamental flower in early spring.

It has a bitter, pungent, and cool taste and is used in traditional medicine to treat boils, abscesses, scrofula, jaundice, dysentery, diarrhea, red eyes, throat obstruction, and snake bites.

I. Physical Characteristics

A perennial herb with no above-ground stem, growing 4-14 cm tall and up to 20 cm tall during fruiting. It has a short, vertical rhizome of a light brown color, 4-13 mm long and 2-7 mm thick, with closely grown nodes and several light brown or near-white thin roots.

The leaves are numerous, basal, and lotus-like; the ones on the lower part are usually smaller, triangular ovate or narrow ovate, while the upper ones are longer, shaped like elongated ovals, narrow ovate-lanceolate, or elongated egg-shaped, 1.5-4 cm long and 0.5-1 cm wide, with a rounded tip, truncate or wedge-shaped base, rarely slightly heart-shaped.

The edge has slightly flat round teeth, both surfaces are hairless or covered with fine short hairs, sometimes only the underside along the veins is short-haired, the leaf during fruiting increases in size, can reach up to 10 cm in length and 4 cm in width.

The petiole during flowering is usually 1-2 times longer than the leaf blade, the upper part has extremely narrow wings, during fruiting it can reach up to 10 cm long, the upper part has wider wings, hairless or covered with fine short hairs.

The stipules are membranous, pale or light green, 1.5-2.5 cm long, 2/3-4/5 fused with the petiole, the free part is linear-lanceolate, the edge is sparsely covered with glandular fringe-like fine teeth or nearly entire.

The flowers are medium-sized, violet or light purple, rarely white, the throat is lighter with purple stripes; the flower stem is usually numerous and weak, the same length or taller than the leaf blade, hairless or short-haired, near the middle there are 2 linear small bracts.

The calyx is ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate, 5-7 mm long, the tip gradually sharp, the base has short appendages, 1-1.5 mm long, the end is round or truncate, the edge has a membranous white border, hairless or short-haired.

The petals are inverted ovate or elongated inverted ovate, the lateral petals are long, 1-1.2 cm, the inside is hairless or has whisker-like hairs, the lower petal including the spur is 1.3-2 cm long, the inside has purple veins; the spur is thin tubular, 4-8 mm long, the end is round.

The stamen is about 2 mm long, the appendage at the top of the anther septum is about 1.5 mm long, the spur on the back of the lower two stamens is thin tubular, 4-6 mm long, the end is slightly thin.

The ovary is ovate, hairless, the pistil is club-shaped, slightly longer than the ovary, the base is slightly bent, the stigma is triangular, the sides and back are slightly thickened into a slightly raised edge, the top is slightly flat, the front has a short beak.

The capsule fruit is elongated oval, 5-12 mm long, hairless; the seed is ovoid, 1.8 mm long, light yellow. The flowering and fruiting period is from mid to late April to September.

II. Growth Environment

This plant thrives in light and moist environments, demonstrating a strong tolerance to both shade and cold. It is not particular about the soil type and has an exceptional adaptability.

It easily propagates, can be sown directly and typically sprouts in early March. Its blooming period lasts from mid-March to mid-May, with a peak flowering period of approximately 25 days.

Each flower blooms for about six days, and it takes approximately 30 days from the time the flower opens until the seeds mature.

From April to mid-May, a large number of cleistogamous flowers are produced, resulting in an abundance of seeds. A few more flowers appear in late September.

III. Distribution Range

This plant grows in fields, wastelands, grassy slopes, forest edges, and shrubbery. It often forms small colonies in the moist areas of gardens. It can also be found in Korea, Japan, and the Far East regions of Russia.

IV. Growth and Reproduction

The seeds of this plant are quite small, and it is common to use a seedling tray for sowing. The soil in the bed should be a mix of two parts garden soil, two parts leaf mold, and one part fine sand.

Before sowing, the soil should be sterilized, typically using a 0.3% to 0.5% solution of potassium permanganate sprayed on the bed soil. This helps to grow robust seedlings and prevents pests and diseases.

The thickness of the covering soil should be just enough to hide the seeds. The ideal time for sowing is in early to mid-March for spring, and early August for autumn. After sowing, maintain a temperature between 15°C to 25°C.

Seedlings will emerge after about a week. For outdoor sowing in August, prepare the land by leveling and thoroughly watering it.

Once the water has seeped in, mix the seeds with fine sandy soil, spread it on the ground, and cover the seeds with a thin layer of soil. Seedlings will emerge after about a week.

V. Pest and Disease Control

Red spider mites can harm the leaves. They can be controlled by spraying a compound sulfur mixture.

Leaf spot disease, caused by semi-known fungi, can also be a problem. At first, small brown spots appear. If not treated in time, large black spots will form, and the leaves will turn yellow and die.

Therefore, as soon as the disease is identified, spray the leaves with an 800-fold solution of Bactericlear every 7-8 days, 2-3 times in a row, and the disease will be essentially cured.

Major pests include scale insects and whiteflies, which can be controlled by spraying a 1000 to 1500-fold solution of 40% Leaguer.

VI. Main Values

Edible Value

Every 100g of the dry matter of this plant contains 29.27g of protein, 2.38g of soluble sugars, 33.95mg of amino acids, and various vitamins.

Each gram of dry plant material contains 354.8μg of iron, 30.3μg of manganese, 22.2μg of copper, 55.8μg of zinc, 11.3μg of barium, 87.3μg of strontium, 69.0μg of chromium, 60.0μg of molybdenum, 9.7μg of cobalt, and 3.9μg of calcium.

The young shoots or tender stems of the plant can be blanched in boiling water, soaked in fresh water for 3-5 minutes, and then stir-fried, used in soups, steamed with flour, or cooked in porridge.

Garden Value

The plant blooms early and densely. Its low-growing and tidy growth habits, along with its tight clusters, make it suitable for regular replacement and transplanting in garden layouts, such as flower beds or early spring patterned flower beds.

It sprouts early, has high ornamental value, and strong adaptability. It can be propagated from seeds, making it a suitable ground cover plant for large-scale cultivation.

It is also suitable for flower borders or mixed with other early spring flowers to form a flower cluster. After a period of dormancy in a potted plant, it can be controlled to flower at a specific time, producing a pot full of tender flowers.

This makes it suitable for interior decorations like windowsills, desks, or shelves, and it can also be used to create bonsai.