Viola sororia

Viola sororia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Phylum:	Spermatophytes
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Malpighiales
Family:	Violaceae
Genus:	Viola
Species:	V. sororia
Binomial name
	Viola sororia; Wild.
Synonyms
	Viola affinis Leconte; Viola chalcosperma Brainerd; Viola cucullata var. sororia (Willd.) Torr. & A. Gray; Viola floridana Brainerd; Viola langloisii Greene; Viola latiuscula Greene; Viola missouriensis Greene; Viola novae-angliae House; Viola palmata var. sororia (Willd.) Pollard; Viola papilionacea Pursh; Viola pratincola Greene; Viola priceana Pollard; Viola rosacea Brainerd;

Viola sororia, known commonly as the common blue violet, is a stemless herbaceous perennial plant that is native to eastern North America. It is known by a number of common names, including common meadow violet, purple violet, the lesbian flower, woolly blue violet, hooded violet, and wood violet.

It is the state flower of Illinois, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Wisconsin.

Self-seeding freely, in lawns and gardens it can become a weed. Cleistogamous seed heads may also appear on short stems in late summer and early autumn.

The common blue violet is also called the "lesbian flower" because in the early 1900s, lesbians and bisexual women would give violets to the women they were wooing. This symbolized their "Sapphic" desire, so called because Sappho, a Greek lyric poetess, in one of her poems described herself and her lover as wearing garlands of violets. This practice became popular in the 1910 – 1930 time period, and has become a substantial symbol for lesbian and bisexual women in the modern era as well.

Uses

Beyond its use as a common lawn and garden plant, Viola sororia has historically been used for food and for medicine. The flowers and leaves are edible, and some sources suggest the roots can also be eaten. The Cherokee used it to treat colds and headaches. Rafinesque, in his Medical Flora, a Manual of the Medical Botany of the United States of North America (1828 – 1830), wrote of Viola sororia being used by his American contemporaries for coughs, sore throats, and constipation.