Burke: Viola nephrophylla vs. Viola sheltonii

	Viola nephrophylla	Viola sheltonii
	LeConte violet, northern bog violet	fan violet, Shelton's violet
Habit	Glabrous, acaulescent perennial with shallow, fleshy, spreading rhizomes.	Glabrous perennial from deep-seated rhizomes, the flowering stems 5-15 cm. tall.
Leaves	Leaf blades deeply ovate-cordate to cordate-triangular, up to 7 cm. in width, with rounded teeth; petioles 5-25 cm. long; stipules linear-lanceolate, entire.	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 solitary, 10-20 mm. long, on peduncles usually exceeding the leaves; spur short, saccate; petals 5, bluish-violet, the lower 3 whitish at the base, prominently bearded, the upper pair sometimes not bearded; style glabrous.	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	Capsule, 3-valved.	Fruit a 3-valved, puberulent capsule, ovary superior, placentation parietal.

	Viola nephrophylla	Viola sheltonii
Flowering time	May-July	April-June
Habitat	Moist places, especially in meadows and along streams.	Coniferous forest understory, often associated with moss-covered boulder fields with well-developed organic layer.
Distribution	Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; Yukon Territory to California, east across most of North America to the Atlantic Coast. [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. howellii, V. lanceolata, V. langsdorffii, V. macloskeyi, 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 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 nephrophylla

Viola sheltonii

LeConte violet, northern bog violet

fan violet, Shelton's violet

Habit

Glabrous, acaulescent perennial with shallow, fleshy, spreading rhizomes.

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

Leaves

Leaf blades deeply ovate-cordate to cordate-triangular, up to 7 cm. in width, with rounded teeth;

petioles 5-25 cm. long;

stipules linear-lanceolate, entire.

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 solitary, 10-20 mm. long, on peduncles usually exceeding the leaves;

spur short, saccate;

petals 5, bluish-violet, the lower 3 whitish at the base, prominently bearded, the upper pair sometimes not bearded;

style glabrous.

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

Capsule, 3-valved.

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