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Viola flettii

Flett's violet, Olympic violet

desert pansy, 3-nerved violet, sagebrush violet

Habit Glabrous perennial from short, thick rhizomes, the stems 3-15 cm. long. Glabrous, somewhat glaucous perennial from short, thick, very deep-seated rhizomes, the stems several, naked below, 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 palmately lobed or compound, the main segments once or twice dissected, the ultimate segments narrowly elliptic, 1.5-4 cm. long;

leaves leathery, prominently 3-nerved on the lower surface;

petioles longer than the blades.

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.

Peduncles exceeding the leaves;

flowers about 1.5 cm. long, usually bicolored, the upper pair deep reddish-violet, the lower 3 pale to deep lilac, with yellowish or whitish base and purple penciling, occasionally all white or all deep purple;

style head hairy.

Fruits

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

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

Viola flettii

Viola trinervata

Flowering time June-August March-June
Habitat Alpine rock crevices and talus slopes at high elevations. Sagebrush flats and rocky hillsides, often on lithosol, where vernally moist.
Distribution
Occurring west of the Cascades crest in Washington, where endemic to the Olympic Mountains
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; north-central Washington to southeastern Oregon.
[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. sheltonii, V. sororia, V. tricolor, V. ×wittrockiana
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