[Violets: The Genus Viola West of the Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington]

Wood Violet, Pioneer Violet, Stream Violet, Streambank Violet

Viola glabella

Stream Violet, Pioneer Violet, Stream Violet, Wood Violet: Viola glabella

Stream violets in bloom surrounded by pacific waterleaf (Hydrophyllum tenuipes) in the webmaster's woodland garden in Gresham, OR.......March 27, 2017.

Characteristics:

The stream violet is an attractive perennial wildflower which should be easily available in the nursery trade. It has erect or ascending stems arising 5-30 cm high which are leafless except on the upper one-third of the stem. The herbage of the leaves and stems is smooth, or the leaves sometimes minutely hairy. The basal leaves are broadly heart-shaped with rounded teeth on the leaf edges and with the petioles, are 10-20 cm long. The base of the leaf blade is definitely notched, while the tip is pointed.

The yellow flowers have 5 petals, the lower 3 of which are purple-veined. The individual flowers are 8-14 mm long.


Habitat:

Stream violet may be found along streams or in moist-shady woods.


Range:

Stream violet may be found from Alaska south through the Pacific Northwest to the coastal mountains and the Sierra Nevada of California, and east to Montana. It may also be found in northeastern Asia.


Flower of Wood Violet, Pioneer Violet, Streambank Violet: Viola glabella - Stream Violet, Pioneer Violet: Viola glabella - Flower of Wood Violet, Pioneer Violet, Streambank Violet: Viola glabella

Stream violet as seen in Gresham, OR.........May 5, 2009.

Stream Violet, Pioneer Violet, Stream Violet, Wood Violet: Viola glabella

Stream violet as seen in woods near Bigelow Lakes, Siskiyou National Forest..........July 14, 2012.

Stream Violet, Pioneer Violet, Stream Violet, Wood Violet: Viola glabella - Stream Violet, Pioneer Violet, Stream Violet, Wood Violet: Viola glabella

A mass of stream violet as seen at left at Saddle Mountain State Park in the Coast Range of northwestern Oregon........May 21, 2009. The photo at right shows stream violet blooming in the webmaster's woodland garden in Gresham, OR.......March 28, 2018.

Stream Violet, Pioneer Violet, Stream Violet, Wood Violet: Viola glabella

Stream violet beginning to bloom at Lewisville Regional Park (Clark County Parks) several miles north of Battle Ground, WA......April 8, 2021.

Paul Slichter