Burke: Viola canadensis vs. Viola pluviae

	Viola canadensis	Viola pluviae
	Canadian violet, rugose violet	rain violet
Habit	Glabrous to puberulent perennial from short, thick rhizomes, with slender stolons, 1-4 dm. tall.	Leaves few, arising from long petioles attached to the rhizome.
Leaves	Leaf blades large, cordate and pointed, the petioles up to 3 dm. long; stipules lanceolate, entire, 1-2 cm. long.	Apex of largest leaves obtuse or shortly acuminate from protruding apical tooth; upper and lower leaf surfaces glabrous.
Flowers	Flowers from the upper portion of the stem, the peduncles shorter than the leaves, the spur short; sepals lanceolate, hairy; petals 1.5 cm. long, white with a yellow base, the 3 lower ones with purple penciling, all purplish tinged on the back; style head sparsely bearded.	blue, 9-12 mm long in profile.
Fruits	Fruit a 3-valved capsule, ovary superior, placentation parietal, the seeds brownish.

	Viola canadensis	Viola pluviae
Flowering time	May-July	April-July
Habitat	Forest openings, riparian zones, and thickets from low to middle elevations.	Wet areas at low to moderate elevations, including in part to full shade.
Distribution	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to Oregon, east to the Rocky Mountains, further east across North America to the Atlantic Coast. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to Idaho and Montana; Eurasia.
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	V. adunca, V. arvensis, V. flettii, V. glabella, V. howellii, V. lanceolata, V. langsdorffii, V. macloskeyi, V. nephrophylla, V. nuttallii, V. odorata, V. orbiculata, V. palustris, V. pluviae, V. purpurea, V. renifolia, V. riviniana, V. selkirkii, V. sempervirens, V. sheltonii, V. sororia, V. tricolor, V. trinervata, V. ×wittrockiana	V. adunca, V. arvensis, V. canadensis, V. flettii, V. glabella, V. howellii, V. lanceolata, V. langsdorffii, V. macloskeyi, V. nephrophylla, V. nuttallii, V. odorata, V. orbiculata, V. palustris, V. purpurea, V. renifolia, V. riviniana, V. selkirkii, V. sempervirens, V. sheltonii, V. sororia, V. tricolor, V. trinervata, V. ×wittrockiana
Subordinate taxa	V. canadensis var. rugulosa
Web links	Local floras: BC, OR, WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search	Local floras: WA Local Web sites: Flora NW, PNW Herbaria WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Viola canadensis

Viola pluviae

Canadian violet, rugose violet

rain violet

Habit

Glabrous to puberulent perennial from short, thick rhizomes, with slender stolons, 1-4 dm. tall.

Leaves few, arising from long petioles attached to the rhizome.

Leaves

Leaf blades large, cordate and pointed, the petioles up to 3 dm. long;

stipules lanceolate, entire, 1-2 cm. long.

Apex of largest leaves obtuse or shortly acuminate from protruding apical tooth; upper and lower leaf surfaces glabrous.

Flowers

Flowers from the upper portion of the stem, the peduncles shorter than the leaves, the spur short;

sepals lanceolate, hairy;

petals 1.5 cm. long, white with a yellow base, the 3 lower ones with purple penciling, all purplish tinged on the back;

style head sparsely bearded.

blue, 9-12 mm long in profile.

Fruits

Fruit a 3-valved capsule, ovary superior, placentation parietal, the seeds brownish.

Viola canadensis

Viola pluviae

Flowering time

May-July

April-July

Habitat

Forest openings, riparian zones, and thickets from low to middle elevations.

Wet areas at low to moderate elevations, including in part to full shade.

Distribution

Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to Oregon, east to the Rocky Mountains, further east across North America to the Atlantic Coast.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]