Pansy Viola cornuta ‘King Henry’
LATIN NAME: Viola cornuta
COMMON NAME: Horned Pansy, Horned Violet, Tufted Pansy
The horned pansy is a cheerful little flower of the high mountains, and its bright, nodding faces have a friendly charm. It grows as a low, clump-forming, evergreen perennial, reaching up to twenty centimetres, with neat, round, dark green leaves and, from spring to summer, small, pansy-like flowers, usually violet or purple with a yellow and white centre, though many colours have been bred. It is tougher than the common pansy, and it flowers for a long season, making it a favourite for edging, pots and the front of the border, where it gives a long, gentle display of colour.
The horned pansy belongs to the violet family, Violaceae, and it is native to the Pyrenees and the Cantabrian Mountains of northern Spain, growing at altitudes of 1,000 to 2,300 metres. It is the parent, along with other violets, of the many tufted and hybrid pansies of the garden. The name horned comes from the little spur at the back of each flower, a detail you can see if you look closely, and it is this mountain plant that gives the garden pansies their toughness and their long, forgiving season of bloom.
Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology
The horned pansy has a genuine and interesting place in both botanical and horticultural research. As a native of the high mountains of the Pyrenees and Spain, it has been studied in ecology and alpine botany for its life at high altitude and its place in the mountain flora, and researchers have examined its adaptation to the harsh mountain environment. The plant has also been studied in horticulture and plant breeding, since it is one of the parents of the modern pansies and violas, and it has contributed its toughness, its long flowering season and its colour range to a vast family of garden hybrids that are grown around the world. For a flower of such mountain heritage and such garden importance, the horned pansy has a steady and growing record of research.
Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications
Ecologically, the horned pansy is a generous flower of the mountain meadow. Its bright flowers feed bees and other early pollinators, and its low, evergreen clumps give shelter and colour in the high landscape.
Its economic value lies mainly in horticulture. It is a beloved garden flower, grown for its long flowering season and its cheerful colours, and it is one of the parents of the vast modern family of pansies and violas that are grown around the world by the million. For a grower, the horned pansy is an easy and productive crop, and for a gardener it brings a long season of gentle colour to the border and the pot. The seeds are small and easy — sow them in spring in a pot of moist compost, barely cover them, keep them cool and lightly watered, and they’ll sprout within a couple of weeks, the little plants growing on into neat clumps that flower for months.
Uses: Culinary Color is Very beautiful!
Edible flowers have a wintergreen overtone. Use in soups, fruit and potato salads, ravioli, desserts, and as a garnish. Showy purple colour.