The wild-grown, flowering herb of Viola tricolor.

Characters. - Stem angular and nearly smooth; leaves alternate, petio-late, ovate or oblong, crenate, with leaf-like, pinnatifid stipules; flowers with an obtuse spur, and the variegated petals shorter or longer than the calyx; inodorous; taste somewhat bitter and acrid.

Dose. - 15 to 75 gr. (1-5 gm.) in decoction.

Composition and Action. - It contains a little violine, a substance similar to emetine, and having an emeto-cathartic action.

Uses. - It is used externally in the form of an ointment or a poultice in eczema and impetigo. It is sometimes given internally in bronchitis.