Viola tricolor

The essence of the Stiefmütterchen was the most difficult of all the plant essences described in this book to research. For many years, I continuously engaged with this little plant in order to uncover its secret. The difficulty lies within the essence itself, which concerns the inner being and the outer appearance. Precisely because the Stiefmütterchen presents an outward image that is meant to conceal the inner state, this plant is so enigmatic.

Intuitively, it was clear to me from the beginning that the essence of the Stiefmütterchen relates to the interaction between inside and outside. An inner image developed, in which the inner is always turned outward and the outer inward, a phenomenon I would describe with the term inversion. Yet I could not properly classify this phenomenon, as from my previous experience with essence and signature, I had always assumed that every plant reflects its innate essence in its external form. Certainly, nature is full of deception and illusion.

Humans are very ingenious and continually devise new deceptions in the struggle for existence. Animals also have species-specific behaviours designed to deceive prey or predators, or they adopt a form to create an appearance of defiance that differs from their true condition. The flower shows a diversity of colours. However, there is a difference between the deceptions of humans and animals, which are aimed at survival or self-assertion, and the deception of the Stiefmütterchen.

Its essence lies in concealing an inner vulnerability and imperfection. The Stiefmütterchen is one of the few plants where a physical effect can be recognized relatively simply in the signature. The flowers have a very soft structure, a gentle sheen, and yet convey something incredibly delicate. Their structure most closely resembles that of healthy children's skin – peach skin.

Let us now leave the simple physical reference and try to understand the essence. The genus Viola (violet), to which the Stiefmütterchen belongs, has some remarkable properties. From a distance, all violets appear like modest little flowers, and in poetic literature they are attributed the character traits of humility and modesty. However, if we approach closer and truly examine a modest violet under the microscope, we find some astonishing facts.

The little plant is adorned with many appendages. When we examine the flower from both inside and outside, we keep discovering new forms that are actually superfluous. Starting from the appendages on the sepals, the spur of the lower petal, the ring of hairs inside the main corolla, the stamens with their unfolded structure, and the club-shaped extensions to the stigma with its strange cup – additions to an extent uncommon in other plants. One might say the plant has adorned itself with some charming accessories. Such floral accessories are also carried by the Stiefmütterchen.

In the case of its leaves, however, something new, aiming in the same direction, is added. The leaf forms of other violet species are relatively simple, often heart-shaped, sometimes divided, but always very clearly structured. The leaf of the Stiefmütterchen, on the other hand, plays a true game of confusion with us. We struggle to discern its structure because it is so complicated and segmented.

The most confusing aspect is that a very large part of the leaf surface does not come from the main leaves, but from secondary leaves. There is no regular pattern, no transparent system in the leaves, but rather an attempt to implement various structural approaches that are then discarded. Most notably, it is the appendages, the secondary leaves, that are made principal, while the actual leaves recede into the background. In the same way, the flower colour can also be seen.

The Stiefmütterchen is the only violet species whose flower is not uniformly coloured – mostly blue – but presents itself in three different colours: violet, white, and yellow. This emphasises its complexity, which the genus already expresses in the many appendages, albeit discreetly and not conspicuously. Through the striking, atypical colouring for violets, the Stiefmütterchen specifically expresses what is typical of the genus and which in other species has not yet emerged as an essential characteristic. The scent of the Stiefmütterchen is very delicate, perfume-like.

If the plant is injured, an entirely different character of scent immediately emerges. The plant contains abundant salicylic acid, which then dominates the smell of the cut plant. Salicylic acid has a strong medicinal character; many ointments for rheumatic pains contain this substance. Although this compound is also found in other plants (willow bark, meadowsweet), no other plant exhibits such a strong scent of this active ingredient as the Stiefmütterchen.