Episode 55: Poached Feet & Cow Treats - Pansy
pansy in bloom
Hello and welcome back to Rooted! This week on the podcast we’re digging in to Pansies, a bloom with almost as many petals as it has stories.
Before we dive into the folklore and facy pants uses of it all, we’ve got to go over the plant facts!
Pansies, or Viola tricolor are members of the violacea or violet family, with famous cousins like well violets, Native to europe, they can now be found…pretty much everywhere as one of the most (if not THE most) popular landscaping plants in the world, and as the edible flower most fancy restaurants and bars are adding to their spring menus. This is largely thanks to pansy connoisseur Lady Mary Elizabeth Bennet, who dedicated her life to collecting every known variety, and working closely with her families gardener William Richardson to develop plenty of new ones.
Known for their bright 5- petaled “Faces”, pansies come in a variety of bright colors, some with up to 3 on a single bloom! They have only get a few inches tall, with probably about a 2 ft pread if that. With such a variety and easy care, it’s kind of no wonder people love these guys.
They are typically grown as annuals, with a preference for moist but not too wet soil. They do tend to reseed like crazy when they like it somewhere, , so it’s not uncommon to see them popping up year after year. The violet family has kind of a weird little quirk when it comes to reseeding- they actually have ovaries that split into three- kind of like a demogorgon mouth from stranger things…and each creepy mouth is filled to the brim with tons of tiny seeds which they literally just shoot out wherever the wind takes them…which is honestly usually not too far, since they like to kind of stay together.
Now that we’ve got a better understanding of who they are, let’s look a little deeper into how they heck we got here.
In ancient greece, the widely accepted myth is that cupid is to blame for the colorful blooms. The story goes that one day cupid was out doing his thing in the field when his arrow missed it’s intended target, piercing instead a bright white pansy. Upon being stuck, cupid’s magic bled into the plant, turning the area a deep purple, and permanently infusing this plant with potent love-related powers.
In a slightly less fun tale, Zeus, well known adulterer and all-powerful scallywag made the flowers as an apology to his girlfriend. In this instance, zeus had been fooling around with a woman named Lo, and when Hera found out- she was ready to kill her….so, in order to protect her, zeus decided to do what any rational person would do- he turned lo into a cow to hide her from his wife.
Obviously Lo didn’t LOVE this solution, so in an attempt to make it up to her, he decided to make the field she grazed on be made entirely of flowers, throwing in a striking new one- a pansy- for good measure… In my mind he could have maybe just turned her into a person again, but what would I know- I’m not a greek god..
Anyway, these plants aren't just used to spread love or make things up to your lady on the side, they are also absolutely bursting with wild superstitions
In a german wives tale, it was said that kicking a pansy while it had dew on it would “knock away” your prosperity, wealth, and love life, so it was best to leave them be.
If you thought that was a lot of weight to put on a tiny flower, you clearly haven’t studied King arthur's knights, who literally lived and died by their interpretations of what these flower’s features meant.
For instance, they believed the lines on the face of the flower were devine signs and warnings. Four lines: hope. Thick, left leaning lines: a life of trouble. Seven lines: constancy of love. Eight: fickleness. Nine: a change of heart.
And the knights listened to these signs- they made life altering decisions based on pretty much whatever the pansies said, leading to a lot of England getting REALLY into them.
One such english chap was shakespeare, who really leaned into the love-bringing elements of this flower in both A midsummer night's dream, where puck employs pansy eye drops to make Demetruis fall in love with whoever he sees first in the morning, and in n hamlet, when ophelia, having lost her mind, starts explaining that pansies are for thoughts, and really just rambling on about things that kinda make sense but not really.
Speaking of floral symbolism and messaging, it should come as no shock that our victorian pals were kind of OBSESSED with pansies in floriography. They were often used to send messages of deep, enduring love….so if someone sent you one of these bad boys??? It meant they REALLY liked you, like “you have bewitched me, body and soul,” levels of love for people.
WIth that in mind, it’s probably not that shocking to learn that pansies are often employed in love spells, either to make a romantic connection deeper, or to get that person your pining after to finally look your way.
Interestingly, they were also used to treat heartbreak (which makes the names “Love lies bleeding” and “Heartsick” make more sense.
Back then though, heartbreak was considered a disease of the body, not the mind…so when you were heartbroken, you went to a doctor, who would prescribe you a pany tea or potion and send you on your way.
While pansies haven't been shown to help with symptoms of sadness or depression,they have been used in a lot of the same ways for years.
My personal favorite use, mostly because it is so out of left field, is actually in the treatment of syphilis. Doctors at the time would typically prescribe a tincture for this one, but in other uses pansy was often part of an ointment or a strong tea that would be applied topically to soothe and heal skin issues like rashes, sores, etc.
It is effective in this case due to the polyphenols - specifically quercetin, which has been shown to reduce inflammation, soothe irritation, and help skin heal by essentially blocking the free radicals that cause inflammation…they kind of just show up to the party, and tell those free radicals to stop being jerks, and for that we are grateful.
As a little fun fact, at the time of recording this, my lymphatic system is throwing a bit of a hissy fit, so I have developed what could be described as an absolutely GNARLY armpit rash- truly it is the pits…thanks a lot, body.
But the research for this episode has actually been kind of a lifesaver because I was able to make my own little concoction to help with the pain and irritation by making a strong extraction of pansyy, calendula, and lavender. Shout out to them for making it possible to lift my arms again.
In another interesting but mildly life-saving twist, pansies were also used as an early way to teach children about botany, as it’s a really easy way to see all the parts of a flower!
This one is kind of a wild ride, so strap in, and be sure to check our instagram for the visuals as always!
Anyway, this story comes from the blog wallflowers and cards, so shout out to them for putting this together
A happily married king and queen had two lovely daughters who were charming and accomplished. Alas, the queen took ill and died, and the king eventually remarried a woman who had two daughters of her own. The new queen grew jealous of the compliments given to her stepdaughters, and did everything she could to make them unhappy. She allowed them to wear only the plainest clothes, while she dressed her own daughters in colorful, expensive gowns and fine jewels. Her own attire was even more extravagant than her daughters.
The hateful queen made the two stepdaughters sit in one chair together – at this point in the story, remove the two upper petals to reveal a single green “chair.” The chair is a sepal: a modified leaf whose purpose is to protect the bud. The stepmother gave each of her daughters their own chair – remove the petals on each side to reveal two more green chairs. The stepmother took two chairs for herself because her skirts were so lavish she needed extra room. Remove the bottom petal to reveal two more chairs.
The stepmother grew so mean the king finally banished her and her daughters from the kingdom. The queen raged and vowed revenge. She had magical powers and cast a spell that caused the king to remain sitting on his throne with his feet plunged in boiling water forever.
With the petals removed, it looks like the king is seated on his throne surrounded by the 5 green chairs. He wears a robe with a golden collar and his lower extremities are encased in a light-blue container—a tub of scalding water. If you gently remove the “tub,” and carefully separate what remains, two little parboiled legs are visible. In reality, the king's head and body are the pistil, made up of the stigma and ovary, or female parts of the flower. His legs and robe are stamens, or the male parts of a flower.
Truly kind of an unhinged way tyo teach the parts of a flower, but if it was good enough for those tiny german kids, it’s gotta be good enough for me!
Next time you stumble upon a pansy, which is probably just about every day if you live in a city righ now, I hope you’ll take a moment to stop and say hello, and maybe even consider what secret messages about life and love it’s holding for you.
Ill be back next week with another plant for us to all get potentially too excited about, bit for now, I hope you all know that YOU have bewitched me- mind body and soul. Thanks for being here, and for hanging out in the cursed garden corner of the internet I’m making. I’m glad you’re here!
https://www.uaex.uada.edu/counties/white/news/horticulture/201810_All_About_Pansies.aspx
https://salisburygreenhouse.com/pansies-folklore-care/
https://marblecrowblog.com/2020/03/05/heartsease-folklore-and-magical-uses/
https://theplantfarm.wordpress.com/2013/08/15/beneath-the-petals-fun-facts-about-pansies-and-violas/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30813781/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12738912/
https://www.farmersalmanac.com/pansies
https://www.ericaweiner.com/history-lessons/pansies
https://marblecrowblog.com/2020/03/05/heartsease-folklore-and-magical-uses/
https://www.folger.edu/blogs/shakespeare-and-beyond/love-in-idleness-pansies-midsummer-nights-dream/
