Habitat
The caterpillars of fritillary butterflies feed on these plants. The plants also serve as food for wild turkeys, rabbits, deer, livestock, the mourning dove, the bobwhite, and the white-footed mouse.Uses
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'' , wrote of ''Viola sororia'' being used by his American contemporaries for coughs, sore throats, and constipation.The leaves are high in vitamins A and C and can be eaten raw. The flowers have been made into jelly and candy.
Cultural
It is the state flower of Illinois, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Wisconsin.References:
Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.
