Roses are red, violets are blue . . . but let’s just talk about violets. Violets greet us in early spring and continue to smile at us well into summer. Violets are among the most widely distributed wildflowers in North America, with no fewer than 21 species native to New Hampshire. The various violets’ colors include purple, blue, white and yellow. According to some sources there may be as many as 500 species of violets in temperate regions worldwide. The Common Blue Violet lives up to its name, being found almost everywhere in New Hampshire - in woods, meadows, roadsides and lawns. Typically pollinated by insects, it can even grow outside the range of insect pollinators by forming tiny, inconspicuous flowers that look like buds that haven’t bloomed. These flowers are being pollinated, but through self-pollination! Ancient Greeks, Persians and Romans made mythological as well as medicinal references to violets. Napoleon Bonaparte and Mohammed favored violets, and medieval Christians believed the violet’s bowed blossom to be in homage to the crucifixion. Legends of the violet’s origin abound. For example, the goddess Venus is said to have been so jealous over the beauty of a group of young women that she beat them until they turned blue and then turned into violets. Oddly, considering how beautiful in form and color a violet is, stories of how this wildflower came to be tend to be a bit sad if not gruesome. Take our Native American version as a further example. The Iroquois tell of a young brave honored for his skill and bravery who fell in love with a maiden from a tribe he had conquered. He hid himself in the forest near the maiden’s village and sang love songs so sweetly and tenderly that the birds of the forest sang with him. The singing both of the young warrior and of the birds lured the maiden into the woods, and he disclosed himself to her. Looking into his fearless, strong and loving face, her heart went out to him, and he carried her away. But a secret lover of her own tribe, seeing the young warrior stealing the maiden from him, ran back to his village to get help. The men of the village mounted their ponies and pursued the couple, overtaking them toward evening. Their anger at the young warrior for having conquered them doubled when they saw that the maiden had braided the long tresses of her hair and had bound them about the neck of the young warrior who carried her in his arms – a sure sign that she loved him and wished to be his wife. Drawing their bows, the Indians of her own tribe shot both the young warrior and the maiden and returned to their own village. Where the two fell, there sprang from the earth a new flower, the purple violet, which speaks of courage and love.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Jun 2013 00:46:15 +0000
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