Valentine's Day is coming, and it's time to start thinking about gifts. Flowers are an essential part of Valentine's Day, not only because they are beautiful, but also because they have various meanings that can help couples express their love. For example, red roses symbolize "I love you," daisies represent pure love, and bamboo symbolizes eternity. However, not everyone is lucky enough to have the opportunity to give roses anymore. They can only reminisce about their loved ones and give a bouquet of purple violets. The language of violets is memories and sincere love.
Violets also have a legend. It is said that violets are transformed from infatuated women. In order to wait for their beloved souls wandering in the autumn, they quietly bloom with purple flowers. Another legend is that when a loved one passes away, in autumn, pale purple flowers will bloom around their grave to comfort their lover. When the grieving lover sees these flowers, it's like seeing their beloved again, immersing themselves in beautiful memories and longing. Although many people like the language of violets and often send violets to remember their loved ones, they often confuse violets with pansies. Now let's talk about the difference between violets and pansies.
1. Environment of growth:
Violets: They grow in wetlands, mountain tops, low mountain grasslands, and marshes at altitudes of 400-2000 meters. They are resistant to flooding, but susceptible to drought. They have strong resistance to cold.
Distribution in China: They are found in Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, eastern and southern Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Hebei, western Henan (Lushi), Shaanxi, and southern Gansu (Lintao, Cheng County), among other places.
Distribution abroad: They are also found in North Korea, Japan, and eastern Siberia of the Soviet Union.
Pansies: They grow in wastelands and moist slopes. They are distributed in Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Shandong, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, and other places.
2. Characteristics:
Violets: They have irregular rhizomes, about 2-5cm in length and 1-3cm in diameter. The surface is purple-red or gray-red, with remaining stem bases and leaf stalk scars at the top. Many fine roots grow in the lower part. The texture is firm and hard, and the cross-section is relatively flat and oily. The roots are numerous, slender, about 6-15cm long and 1-3mm in diameter. They are often braided, with a purple-red or gray-red surface and longitudinal wrinkles. The texture is relatively soft and flexible, easy to break, with a light brown cross-section. There is a ring of purple-red color on the edge, and tiny wood hearts are present. They have a slightly fragrant smell and a sweet, slightly bitter taste. Roots that are long, purple-red, and flexible are considered the best. Microscopic identification of violet roots: The epidermal cells are round or square, often shed or wrinkled, and contain purple-red pigments. The subepidermal cells are elongated and slightly thickened on the side walls and inner walls, containing purple-red pigments. The cortex is wide, with a few thick-walled cells scattered throughout. Oil ducts are circular or elliptical, with a diameter of 30-75um, located on the inner side of the cortex, often in the same number as the phloem bundles and opposite to them. The endodermis is obvious. The central column is small, with 1-2 layers of sheath cells. The primary xylem is usually 4-6. There is often pith in the center. The thin-walled cells of this plant contain inulin.
Pansies: They are perennial herbs, 30-100cm tall, with upright stems. The lower half of the stem is smooth, and the upper half has fine soft hairs. The leaves are alternate, with lanceolate basal leaves that are 5-12cm long and 5-12mm wide. The base gradually narrows into a short stalk, and the apex is gradually pointed. The margin is rough with sparse fine serrations, and the leaves fall off after flowering. The upper stem leaves are sessile, lanceolate to linear, smooth on the upper surface, green, and have fine soft hairs on the lower surface. The margin is rough and slightly rolled up. There are numerous head-like inflorescences densely arranged in umbels. The bracts are in a single layer, herbaceous, with a membranous edge and a blunt apex. The outer layer has female flowers, with white petal-like ligules that are elliptical in shape. The central part has numerous bisexual flowers with tubular corollas that are yellow and about 3.5mm long. The bases of the stamens are blunt and entire, and the style head is 2-lobed, with a long round shape and a blunt apex. The fruit is elongated, about 1mm long, slightly flattened, and covered with hairs. The margin has fine ribs, and the corolla hairs are gray-white or slightly reddish, with numerous rough hairs. They bloom in autumn.
