Heartsease

Statema, B. C. P.

Plant

Heartsease

Viola tricolor; love-in-idleness, pansy

Known today as: Viola tricolor, the wild pansy of fields and banks, purple, white, and yellow.
Kind: Plant, in 1 older authority
Constituents: salicylates, rutin, violanthin, and 2 more
Earliest authority here: Its names
In other databases: Plants of the World Online search · GBIF search · Wikidata search

Heartsease: what was it used for?

For the skin, for scald-head and eruptions in children; for the chest; and, by its name, for the heart.

Heartsease: what does modern science say?

Still approved in German herbal practice for mild skin complaints applied outwardly; little trial evidence.

Pharmacognosy & Toxicology

Constituents

salicylatesmethyl salicylate glycosides
rutin ChEMBLup to 0.4 per cent
violanthin
mucilage10 per cent
cyclotidessmall cyclic peptides

Mechanism

The salicylates and flavonoids are mildly anti-inflammatory and the mucilage soothes, which is the skin use; the cyclotides are cytotoxic peptides of research interest. Nothing acts on the heart; the name is from the face of the flower.

Toxic dose

Safe; large doses of the saponin-bearing herb vomit.

Standing

EMA monograph (2011) for mild seborrhoeic skin conditions, used on the skin and as tea, on tradition.

EMA/HMPC (2011). Community herbal monograph on Viola tricolor L. and/or subspecies, herba cum flore (EMA/HMPC/131734/2009). Verified against its record
Göransson, U., et al. (1999). “Seven novel macrocyclic polypeptides from Viola arvensis.” Journal of Natural Products 62. Verified against its record · doi:10.1021/np9803878

The abstract of each source, beneath its citation. For Club members. About the Club or sign in.

Constituent names open the compound’s record at PubChem, and “ChEMBL” beside a name opens its record at ChEMBL, the European Bioinformatics Institute’s database of bioactive molecules. Where a mechanism line was checked against ChEMBL (ChEMBL 37, read 1 October 2026), the check is shown with the measured value and its source paper, or says plainly that nothing has been measured. Doses are as the references give them, for description only; this is not medical advice. Each source carries the result of its check against Crossref, PubMed, or the authority’s page: see Verification.

Heartsease: what lore surrounds it?

It is Shakespeare’s love-in-idleness: in A Midsummer Night’s Dream Oberon squeezes its juice on sleeping eyes so that they dote on the first creature they see on waking.

Heartsease: what did the older authorities say?

Its names: “Pansy” comes from the French pensée, thought; the flower was given for remembrance.

Sources

Shakespeare, W., A Midsummer Night’s Dream II.i. Book, seen in reviews
Grieve, M. (1931). A Modern Herbal, “Heartsease.” Book, not indexed

Verification

Checked

October 1, 2026

Passes

Every sentence read against its sources, in the pass over the remaining 343 entries
The Standing line checked against the authority it names (EMA, WHO, FDA, CITES, Commission E)
Every dated or regulatory claim checked by category across the database

Sources

4 cited: 2 verified against its record, 1 book, seen in reviews, 1 book, not indexed. 1 with the abstract on file.

Corrections

None were needed.

What was checked, how, and what was found is set out on the Verification page. A checked source is one whose record was found; it does not make the entry medical advice.

Cite This Entry

Version 1 · first published September 30, 2026

Chicago: “Heartsease.” In Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1. The Thinking Press, 2026–. Last modified September 30, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/heartsease.
MLA: “Heartsease.” Materia Medica, edited by B. C. P. Statema, version 1, The Thinking Press, 30 Sept. 2026, thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/heartsease. Accessed 8 Oct. 2026.
APA: Heartsease. (2026, September 30). In B. C. P. Statema (Ed.), Materia medica (Version 1). The Thinking Press. Retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/heartsease

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