Burke: Viola howellii vs. Viola sheltonii

	Viola howellii	Viola sheltonii
	Howell's violet	fan violet, Shelton's violet
Habit	Sparsely pubescent perennial from scaly rhizomes, 2-10 cm. tall.	Glabrous perennial from deep-seated rhizomes, the flowering stems 5-15 cm. tall.
Leaves	Leaf blades cordate to reniform-cordate, with coarse, rounded teeth, the petioles of the many basal leaves 10-15 cm. long; stipules 3-10 mm. long, prominently 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 1.5-2 cm. long, the spur very prominent, saccate; sepals obtuse, auriculate at the base; petals bluish-violet to nearly white, strongly veined with purple, the lateral pair long-bearded; style sparsely 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, seeds light brown.	Fruit a 3-valved, puberulent capsule, ovary superior, placentation parietal.

	Viola howellii	Viola sheltonii
Flowering time	April-May	April-June
Habitat	Moist woods and prairies at low to moderate elevations.	Coniferous forest understory, often associated with moss-covered boulder fields with well-developed organic layer.
Distribution	Occurring west of the Cascades crest and in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; southwestern British Columbia to California. [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	Not of concern	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	V. adunca, V. arvensis, V. canadensis, V. flettii, V. glabella, 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: BC, 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	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 howellii

Viola sheltonii

Howell's violet

fan violet, Shelton's violet

Habit

Sparsely pubescent perennial from scaly rhizomes, 2-10 cm. tall.

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

Leaves

Leaf blades cordate to reniform-cordate, with coarse, rounded teeth, the petioles of the many basal leaves 10-15 cm. long;

stipules 3-10 mm. long, prominently 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 1.5-2 cm. long, the spur very prominent, saccate;

sepals obtuse, auriculate at the base;

petals bluish-violet to nearly white, strongly veined with purple, the lateral pair long-bearded;

style sparsely 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, seeds light brown.

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