CREEPING VIOLET (Viola sarmentosa, Dougl.). Flowers 

 light yellow, rather small, on slender stalks; leaves round, an 

 inch across more or less, with rounded teeth, often with 

 dark dots and rusty brown beneath. A trim little plant, 

 prostrate and creeping by its slender stems. Blooming in 

 spring and early summer in the Coast Ranges from the Mon- 

 terey Bay region northward through Oregon and Washing- 

 ton. 



This charming little violet is one of the most captivating 

 of woodland plants, and is often met with in the redwood for- 

 ests, making dainty mats upon the ground and drooping grace- 

 fully over bank edges. The specific name, sarmentosa, means 

 "having many little branches." An Easterner's first impres- 

 sion of the California wild violets is usually one of surprise 

 at the number of yellow-flowered species which are met, as 

 compared with blue the latter being the most usual color on 

 the Atlantic Coast. Nevertheless there are a few blue- 

 flowered species, one of which, the little Sierran Dog Violet 

 (Viola oxyceras, Greene) is sure to be seen by visitors in the 

 Yosemite region, as it is quite common in the Sierra Nevada. 



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