Viola langsdorffii

Alaska violet, langsdorff's violet, Langsdorff'S Violet

Family: Violaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.1

Alaska violet is a rare (CNPS 2B.1) California native perennial found in northern coastal areas including Lake Earl in Del Norte County, growing in coastal sand dune bogs and stabilized sandy areas at elevations below 10 meters. Flowering from April to August, this plant produces light to deep violet flowers with a distinctive white base on the lower petals and delicate cylindric hairs on the lateral petals. Growing 2 to 30 centimeters tall with ascending to erect stems emerging from a shallow, thin, fleshy rhizome, it typically has 2 to 3 stems per plant. Its leaves are simple and glabrous, with basal leaves 0.9 to 5.8 centimeters long, ovate to kidney-shaped, featuring crenate to crenate-serrate edges and a heart-shaped or truncate base. The flower's lowest petal measures 12 to 24 millimeters long, with a conspicuous 2 to 5 millimeter spur that is as wide as it is long.

Habitat: In bogs of coastal sand dunes and sandy, stabilized areas dominated by per species of

Bloom period: Apr-Aug

Elevation: < 10 m

Bioregions: n NCo (Lake Earl, Del Norte Co.)

California counties: Del Norte

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