The evergreen, or, redwood violet (Viola sempervirens) is a coastal Pacific Northwest staple of conifer woodlands. Blooming as early as winter in mild locations and sometimes continuing sporadically throughout the year, it adds interest to the deep forest shadows where little else flowers. Diminutive in size (typically not more than 3.00 inches/7.50 centimeters in height), it is easily overlooked, although its spreading habit sometimes results in eye-catching patches of gold. Its blooms display the classic violet or pansy form: bilaterally symmetrical1Divisible into two identical halves along only one plane; in this case, along a vertical line down the center of the violet when viewed from the front., consisting of two upright petals, two side petals, and one lower petal. The side and lower petals are pencilled with purple “whiskers” that radiate from the center and occasionally extend onto the upright petals. The two side petals are also bearded with fine hairs at the throat, although these are not always visible on casual inspection. When viewed in profile, the evergreen violet’s short nectar spur2A nectar spur is a hollow extension of floral components (usually the petals) that serves as a nectar repository for pollinators. appears as a knob at the rear and just below the attachment of the stem to the flower, still embraced by the five sepals3Sepals are modified leaves that enclose a flower bud before it opens and are usually green. that enclosed the bud before it opened.
The evergreen violet is a perennial, persisting from year to year as a small, rhizomatous4Producing, possessing, or resembling a rhizome, which is a thickened stem that grows along or under the soil surface and bears shoots above and roots below. caudex5A caudex is a woody rootstock. In perennial plants, it persists from year to year and produces the plant’s new, herbaceous growth. at the soil surface topped by a loose rosette of evergreen leaves unaffected by frost and snow. The slightly scalloped leaves are heart-shaped6Otherwise called “cordate”, but lack the sharp, often curved point of the pioneer violet (V. glabella) or the much more circular form of the round-leaved violet (V. orbiculata), which also bear yellow blooms and overlap with the evergreen violet in range. The undersides of the leaves may have purple blotches, another feature that distinguishes the evergreen violet from the pioneer and round-leaved violets. The evergreen violet spreads and reproduces asexually by means of stolons7Stolons are stems that grow along or over the soil surface and bear shoots above and roots below. that sprout from the caudex and creep along the soil, rooting and producing plantlets from their leaf nodes. In spring, the stolons are clearly visible as they emerge from the parent plant, often bearing blooms at their tips. Later in the season, the stolons wither or become woody after their plantlets have rooted, but can still be traced connecting the members of extended colonies. 
Each plant produced in this fashion is a clone of its parent plant, as no genes were exchanged in its formation, as occurs with sexual reproduction by pollen and seeds. The evergreen violet’s stolons are the chief feature that distinguishes it from the otherwise similar round-leaved violet, as well as from the much larger and less alike pioneer violet that do not produce stolons. (The evergreen violet also typically grows at lower elevation than the round-leaved violet.)
After a pollinated evergreen violet’s bloom withers, it ripens into a small, round capsule set into the prongs of its remnant sepals. When ripe, the capsule turns upward and pops open to disperse its seeds.
The evergreen violet is common from Alaska south along the Pacific Coast and west slopes of the Cascade Range to northern California (where its presence in the redwood forests results in its other common name, “redwood violet”) and in scattered populations east into Idaho. It prefers shady, coniferous forest from sea level to mountain mid elevations.
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