Burke: Viola flettii vs. Viola sheltonii

	Viola flettii	Viola sheltonii
	Flett's violet, Olympic violet	fan violet, Shelton's violet
Habit	Glabrous perennial from short, thick rhizomes, the stems 3-15 cm. long.	Glabrous perennial from deep-seated rhizomes, the flowering stems 5-15 cm. tall.
Leaves	Leaves fleshy, petiolate, purplish-green, the blades reniform, 1.5-4 cm. broad, finely round-toothed; stipules lanceolate, toothed.	Leaf blades glaucous and somewhat purplish on the lower surface, 2-5 cm. long and broad, deeply cleft into 3 main lobes and dissected into ultimate linear segments; stipules small, membranous, comb-like.
Flowers	Flowers 1.5 cm. long, the spur very short, yellow; petals purplish-violet, yellow at the base, the lower 3 dark-veined, the lateral pair yellow-bearded; style head well bearded.	Flowers about 12 mm. long, yellow, the upper pair of petals brownish-backed, the lower three purplish-penciled, the lateral pair sparsely bearded; style head sparsely bearded.
Fruits	Fruit a 3-valved capsule, ovary superior, placentation parietal.	Fruit a 3-valved, puberulent capsule, ovary superior, placentation parietal.

	Viola flettii	Viola sheltonii
Flowering time	June-August	April-June
Habitat	Alpine rock crevices and talus slopes at high elevations.	Coniferous forest understory, often associated with moss-covered boulder fields with well-developed organic layer.
Distribution	Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington, where endemic to the Olympic Mountains [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Washington to California, east to Idaho; also in Colorado. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Review Group 1 in Washington (WANHP)	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	V. adunca, V. arvensis, V. canadensis, 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. pluviae, V. purpurea, V. renifolia, V. riviniana, V. selkirkii, V. sempervirens, V. sororia, V. tricolor, V. trinervata, V. ×wittrockiana
Web links	Local floras: 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: CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, 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

Viola flettii

Viola sheltonii

Flett's violet, Olympic violet

fan violet, Shelton's violet

Habit

Glabrous perennial from short, thick rhizomes, the stems 3-15 cm. long.

Glabrous perennial from deep-seated rhizomes, the flowering stems 5-15 cm. tall.

Leaves

Leaves fleshy, petiolate, purplish-green, the blades reniform, 1.5-4 cm. broad, finely round-toothed;

stipules lanceolate, toothed.

Leaf blades glaucous and somewhat purplish on the lower surface, 2-5 cm. long and broad, deeply cleft into 3 main lobes and dissected into ultimate linear segments;

stipules small, membranous, comb-like.

Flowers

Flowers 1.5 cm. long, the spur very short, yellow;

petals purplish-violet, yellow at the base, the lower 3 dark-veined, the lateral pair yellow-bearded;

style head well bearded.

Flowers about 12 mm. long, yellow, the upper pair of petals brownish-backed, the lower three purplish-penciled, the lateral pair sparsely bearded;

style head sparsely bearded.

Fruits

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

Fruit a 3-valved, puberulent capsule, ovary superior, placentation parietal.