I find wildflowers beautiful and fascinating. So on my little park excursion I took a photograph of a pretty purple one,
flower was about 2 cm long
had 5 purplish petals
one flower per stem
12.5 cm stem length
patch of leaves at base of flower stem
2 cm leaf
heart shaped
branched leaf veins
toothed edges
pretty easily identified as the Common Blue Violet. Scientifically Viola sororia
I just looked up some florida wildflowers and it was the third maybe fourth one down.
according to wikipedia:
'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."
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