Viola bakeri
Baker's violet
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Family: Violaceae · Type: Herb · Native
Viola bakeri (Baker's violet) is a native California herb in the Violaceae family, recognized by . Key features: high elevation, yellow flowers with maroon backs, narrow leaves.
Baker's violet is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, California Ranges, Sierra Nevada, and Modoc Plateau in vernally moist openings within conifer forest at elevations of 900 to 3,800 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces deep lemon-yellow flowers with maroon or brown upper petals and brown-purple veined lower petals, with lateral petals featuring distinctive cylindric beard hairs. Growing prostrate to erect with several stems clustered on woody rhizomes, it reaches 3 to 30 centimeters tall with delicate branching. Its leaves are simple and thin, with basal leaves 1.8 to 8.8 centimeters long, lanceolate to oblanceolate, and having bases that taper obliquely with obtuse or acute tips. The fruit is a round to ovoid capsule 5 to 10 millimeters long, containing tan to dark red-brown seeds.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 29 sympatric species. Key features: high elevation, yellow flowers with maroon backs, narrow leaves
Habitat and range
Habitat: Vernally moist openings in conifer forest
Elevation: 900-3800 m
California counties: Mono, Nevada, Plumas, Glenn, Fresno, Sierra, Placer, Siskiyou, Shasta, El Dorado, Mendocino, Lassen, Butte, Tehama, Mariposa, Humboldt, Trinity, Calaveras, Alpine, Amador, Madera, Tuolumne
Outside California: to Washington, Nevada
Bloom period
Viola bakeri blooms May-Jul.
How to tell it apart
vs Asarum: Viola flowers sit above ground on stalks; Asarum flowers hide at ground level under heart-shaped leaves.; vs Cardamine: Viola has irregular flowers with a spur; Cardamine has 4-petaled symmetrical flowers.; vs Lycianthes: Viola flowers have a backward spur; Lycianthes has star-shaped flowers with no spur.; vs Pelargonium: Viola has a petal-derived spur; Pelargonium has a sepal-derived spur fused to the flower stalk.; vs Eschscholzia: Viola has 5 petals with one forming a spur; Eschscholzia has 4 separate fan-shaped petals.
Frequently asked questions
Is Viola bakeri native to California?
Yes. Viola bakeri is native to California (recorded as native).
When does Viola bakeri bloom?
Viola bakeri blooms May-Jul.
Where in California does Viola bakeri grow?
Viola bakeri occurs in Mono, Nevada, Plumas, Glenn, Fresno, Sierra, Placer, Siskiyou and other counties, at elevations of 900-3800 m.
What plant family does Viola bakeri belong to?
Viola bakeri is in the Violaceae family, genus Viola.
What habitat does Viola bakeri grow in?
Viola bakeri grows in Vernally moist openings in conifer forest.
Related species
Other California species in the same genus, family, or bioregion.
Sources: Jepson eFlora · Index of California Plant Names · CalPhotos
Last updated 2026-10-07
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Cal-IPC, and more.