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Violaceae FAMILY

Viola biflora

Viola biflora

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

All members of this genus have more or less edible leaves and flower buds, though those species, including this one, with yellow flowers can cause diarrhoea if eaten in large quantities[1, 2, 3].

Cultivation Details

HabitPerennial
Growth—

Viola biflora is quite cold tolerant, unharmed by temperatures of -10°c and probably lower[4]. 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[4]. All members of this genus have more or less edible leaves and flower buds, though those species with yellow flowers, like this one, can cause diarrhoea if eaten in large quantities[1, 2, 3]. Like several other members of this genus, this species has two types of flower. The first type has petals and is pollinated by insects, the second type, known as cleistogamous, does not have petals, never opens, but self-fertilizes and produces fertile seed[5].

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. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Viola+biflora>

Pollinators

Insects, Cleistogamous

References

  1. [1]A Field Guide to N. American Edible Wild Plants. — Elias. T. and Dykeman. P. · Van Nostrand Reinhold · 1982 · ISBN 0442222009 ↩︎Very readable.
  2. [2]Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. — Harrington. H. D. · University of New Mexico Press · 1967 · ISBN 0-8623-0343-9 ↩︎A superb book. Very readable, it gives the results of the authors experiments with native edible plants.
  3. [3]Wild Food Plants of Indiana. — McPherson. A. and S. · Indiana University Press · 1977 · ISBN 0-253-28925-4 ↩︎A nice pocket guide to this region of America.
  4. [4]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  5. [5]Flore de Madagascar et des Comores — Humbert H. · Museum National D'Histoire Naturelle; Paris · 1946 - 1984 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ ↩︎Written in French, an excellent flora of the area though it has not been completed. Available for download from the Internet.
  6. [6]Flora of the USSR. — Komarov. V. L. · Israel Program for Scientific Translation · 1968 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org · ISBN - ↩︎An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  7. [7]Flora of Japan — http://www.foj.info ↩︎An on-line version of the flora - an excellent resource.
  8. [8]Flora of China — Missouri Botanical Garden Press; St. Louis. · 1994 · http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/ ↩︎An excellent, comprehensive resource in 25 volumes. In addition to the botanical information the flora also gives basic information on habitat and some uses. An on-line version is also available.
  9. [9]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
  10. [10]Discovering Wild Plants - Alaska, W. Canada and the Northwest. — Schofield. J. J. · Alaska Northwest Books; Alaska · 2003 · ISBN 0882403699 ↩︎A nice guide to some useful plants in that area.
  11. [11]Ethnic Food Plants and Ethnic Food Preparation in Western and Central Himalayas — Ballabh B. & Pullaiah T. · Apple Academic Press; Oakville, Canada · 2018 · ISBN 978-1-77188-550- ↩︎
  12. [12]Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). — Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. · Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. · 1986 · ISBN - ↩︎Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.
  13. [13]Indian Medicinal Plants; An Illustrated Dictionary — Khare C.P. (Ed.) · Springer-Verlag Berlin/Heidelberg · 2007 · ISBN 978-0-387-70637-5 ↩︎
  14. [14]Native American Ethnobotany — Moerman. D. · Timber Press. Oregon. · 1998 · ISBN 0-88192-453-9 ↩︎Very comprehensive but terse guide to the native uses of plants. Excellent bibliography, fully referenced to each plant, giving a pathway to further information. Not for the casual reader.