popular names – brother-sister, zozulin_ cherevichki, sisters, siriki; Ivan da Marya, field brothers, semi-flower, axes, etc.
Violet family – Violaceae.
The herb is used for medicinal purposes.
It occurs almost throughout Ukraine (with the exception of the Crimea), more often in the forest and in the north of the forest-steppe regions. It grows on forest edges and clearings, in sparse forests, thickets of shrubs, forest meadows, roadsides, parks, gardens. Usually forms groups, rarely sparse thickets.
Stocks of raw materials are quite large, but scattered. Several tons of grass can be harvested annually. Industrial preparations are expedient in Polissya and in the Forest-Steppe. Average annual harvesting of grass in the republic in 1974-1976 amounted to 6.9 tons.
Violet tricolor is an annual or biennial herbaceous plant with a poorly developed, slightly branched root. Stem single, ascending, branched. The leaves are alternate, the lower ones are petiolate, the stem ones are sessile, lanceolate, smaller. The flowers are large (18-27 mm long) on long, axillary, peduncles bent at the top. Corolla five-lobed. The upper petals are dark blue-violet, the side petals are lighter, and the lower petals are yellow. The fruits are elongated, ovoid capsules. Blooms in May – June. The fruits ripen in July-August.
It is also allowed to harvest field violets and kitabel violets. From violets it is necessary to distinguish plants from the genus maryannik, which are also often called Ivan da Marya.
Grass is harvested during flowering, plucking with knives or sickles.
Dry it in attics under an iron roof or under sheds with good ventilation, spreading a layer of 5-7 cm on paper or cloth and stirring occasionally. The yield of dry raw materials is 20-22%.
According to GOST 16989-71, the raw material consists of stems 10-25 cm long, with leaves (length up to 6 and width within 1 cm), single flowers (with a length of 1 cm), in which the upper petals are purple, the middle ones are light purple , and the lower ones are yellow with purple stripes, also single fruits. The smell is weak. The taste is sweetish. Humidity is not higher than 14%. In raw materials, no more than 3% of crushed parts (passing through a sieve with a hole diameter of 2 mm), 3% of organic and 1% of mineral impurities are allowed.
Dry grass is packed in bales weighing 50 kg. Store in dry, well-ventilated areas on pallets or racks. Storage period up to 1.5 years.
The herb contains rutin glycoside, saponins, pigment violaquercetin, vitamin C, carotene. It is used as an expectorant in diseases of the respiratory tract in the form of an infusion. It is part of the antiscrofulous collection (Averin tea).