Viola lobata subsp. lobata

Family: Violaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Stream violet is a California native perennial found in northwestern California, the Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, Peninsular Ranges in dry shady or open places in chaparral, oak woodland, and mixed-conifer forests at elevations of 45 to 2,300 meters. Flowering from April to August, this plant produces flowers in shades of white, blue, or purple with distinctive lobed petals. Growing with stems 10 to 30 centimeters tall, it forms low-spreading clumps in forest understories. Its leaves are distinctively palmate with 3 to 12 lobes, generally wider than long and ranging from ovate to nearly kidney-shaped, with leaf edges that are entire to coarsely serrate. In moist woodland areas, it often grows in patches on serpentine soils, creating delicate ground-covering colonies.

Habitat: dry shady or open places in chaparral, oak woodland, yellow-pine, mixed-conifer, or redwood forest, occasionally moist, often serpentine

Bloom period: Apr-Aug

Elevation: 45-2300 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, SN, PR

California counties: Plumas, Tulare, Butte, Nevada, El Dorado, Amador, Siskiyou, Mendocino, Shasta, Trinity, Tehama, Yuba, Del Norte, Fresno, Sonoma, Napa, Mariposa, Tuolumne, Lake, Calaveras, Placer, San Diego, Sierra

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