Viola purpurea subsp. purpurea

Mountain violet, Mountain Violet

Family: Violaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Mountain violet is a California native perennial found in northwestern California, Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, central western, southwestern California, and Modoc Plateau in openings or beneath shrubs in yellow-pine forest and higher elevation areas at elevations of 213 to 2,896 meters. Flowering from March to July, this plant produces purple flowers 10 to 12 millimeters long with distinctive lower petals. Growing with spreading to erect stems 3 to 25 centimeters tall that elongate through the growing season, it has a generally glabrous or slightly hairy appearance. Its basal leaves are rounded, 1.6 to 4.5 centimeters wide, with irregular crenate edges and a purple tint on the underside, while cauline leaves are more lanceolate to triangular. The fruit is 5 to 6 millimeters long, developing after the plant's late-season growth.

Habitat: In openings or beneath shrubs, generally in yellow-pine forest or higher

Bloom period: Mar-Jul

Elevation: 213-2896 m

Bioregions: NW, CaR, SN, CW, SW, MP

California counties: San Diego, Los Angeles, Tulare, Kern, Placer, Glenn, Monterey, Plumas, San Bernardino, Mendocino, Sierra, Ventura, Nevada, Tehama, El Dorado, Tuolumne, Madera, Mono, Butte, Fresno, Modoc, Orange, Riverside, Lake, Inyo, Humboldt, Shasta, Siskiyou, San Benito, Trinity, Santa Barbara, Calaveras, Yuba, Contra Costa, Napa, Del Norte, Alpine, Alameda, Santa Clara, Mariposa, Amador, Lassen, Colusa

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