Violet species, Viola spp.
is the 2022 Herb of the Year

• The genus Viola includes between 500 and 600 species in the violaceae or violet family, including violets, pansies, heartsease or Johnny jump-ups, other species, and many hybrids within the family.
  • Viola hybridize freely, which can make identification challenging.
  • While the flowers across the species vary in color, they generally have four unlike petals arranged in pairs and a fifth lower lobed petal with a spur, on top of an individual stem.
  • Pansy is generally the common name reserved for the hybrid Viola × wittrockiana, whose complex origin includes at least three species.
  • Violet, Viola odorata, has been used in the perfume industry as a fragrance source.

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Source: Herb Society of America​