Viola macloskeyi
Macloskey's violet, small white violet, smooth white violet, Smooth White Violet
(c) Zihao Wang, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Zihao Wang · licence
Family: Violaceae · Type: Herb · Native
Viola macloskeyi (Macloskey's violet) is a native California herb in the Violaceae family, recognized by . Key features: stemless, white flowers, wet mountain habitats, stoloniferous.
Macloskey's violet is a California native perennial found in northern and central California Floristic Province mountains, San Bernarddo, San Jacinto, Warner, and eastern Sierra Nevada regions in bogs, wet meadows, and streamside habitats at elevations of 600 to 3,600 meters. Flowering from March to September, this plant produces white flowers with purple-veined lower petals and distinctive lateral petals that may be bearded with cylindric hairs. Growing to 10 centimeters tall, it forms dense patches via late-season stolons and emerges from short, fleshy rhizomes with no visible stem. Its simple basal leaves are reniform to ovate, 1 to 6.5 centimeters long, with a heart-shaped base and rounded to acute tips, ranging from nearly entire to shallowly crenate. The fruit is a small 5 to 7 millimeter elliptic capsule containing beige to bronze seeds.
Identification and appearance
Key characters: 25 sympatric species. Key features: stemless, white flowers, wet mountain habitats, stoloniferous
Habitat and range
Habitat: Bogs, wet meadows, seeps, lake margins, streamsides, mesic roadside depressions, often with mosses
Elevation: 600-3370[3600] m
California counties: Fresno, Tulare, San Bernardino, Modoc, Calaveras, Siskiyou, Los Angeles, Tuolumne, Humboldt, Mariposa, Placer, Plumas, Madera, Trinity, Nevada, Mono, Riverside, Inyo, Kern, Amador, Butte, Shasta, Sierra, Ventura, Glenn, El Dorado, Lassen, Tehama, Mendocino, Alpine, Colusa, Lake, Del Norte
Outside California: to Yukon Territory, eastern Canada, North Carolina, Nevada
Bloom period
Viola macloskeyi blooms Mar-Sep.
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 macloskeyi native to California?
Yes. Viola macloskeyi is native to California (recorded as native).
When does Viola macloskeyi bloom?
Viola macloskeyi blooms Mar-Sep.
Where in California does Viola macloskeyi grow?
Viola macloskeyi occurs in Fresno, Tulare, San Bernardino, Modoc, Calaveras, Siskiyou, Los Angeles, Tuolumne and other counties, at elevations of 600-3370[3600] m.
What plant family does Viola macloskeyi belong to?
Viola macloskeyi is in the Violaceae family, genus Viola.
What habitat does Viola macloskeyi grow in?
Viola macloskeyi grows in Bogs, wet meadows, seeps, lake margins, streamsides, mesic roadside depressions, often with mosses.
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.