Viola cuneata

Northern two-eyed violet, wedge-leaved violet, Wedge-Leaved Violet

Family: Violaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Northern two-eyed violet is a California native perennial found in northwestern California and the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains in vernally moist areas of open pine or oak forests, often on serpentine, at elevations of 120 to 2,200 meters. Flowering from March to September, this plant produces white petals with deep red-violet undersides and distinctive yellow and purple basal markings on its delicate flowers. Growing with prostrate to erect stems 2 to 25 centimeters tall emerging from thin, shallow rhizomes, it develops glossy, leathery leaves with purple-veined surfaces. Its leaves are round-ovate to deltate, mostly 1 to 4 centimeters long with wedge-shaped bases and slightly serrated edges, featuring basal leaves that are particularly shiny. The plant produces small round fruits 5 to 9 millimeters long, which contain deep brown-purple seeds.

Habitat: Uncommon. Vernally moist areas in open pine or oak forests, often on serpentine

Bloom period: Mar-Sep

Elevation: 120-2200 m

Bioregions: NW, n SNH

California counties: Mendocino, Trinity, Humboldt, Del Norte, Siskiyou, Marin, Nevada, Mariposa, Tehama, Shasta, Butte

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.