“hairy herb with erect flowering stems. Leaves oval, opposite. Flowers violet (sometimes white), in short, obling heads at the stem tips. Flowers April to July. Found in Field, woodland, wasteground, meadow and pasture habitats. perennial” – Gibbons 1992
Culpepper describes it as a small low, creeping herb and attributes it to the power of Venus. Like Bugle it is a ‘special herb for inward and outward wounds’. he also suggests its use for cleaning of external sores and ulcers, to flush green wounds and help them knit closed. Mixed with the oil of roses and anointed on the temples and forehead it was said to ‘remove the head-ach’ and mixed with honey of roses it ‘cleanses and heals all ulcers in the mouth and throat, and those also in the secret parts’.
So a cure all? A cleanse all to allow the body to heal itself, or just a pretty purple flower hiding in the grass?