UW Burke Herbarium species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Viola purpurea

Viola canadensis

Canadian violet, rugose violet
Habit Puberulent perennial from a slender, scaly rhizome, the aerial stems 5-15 mm. long; herbage usually glaucous-green, purplish-veined, often purplish throughout. Glabrous to puberulent perennial from short, thick rhizomes, with slender stolons, 1-4 dm. tall.
Leaves

Leaf blades rather thick and fleshy, orbicular to lanceolate, cordate to wedge-shaped at the base, sub-entire to wavy-margined or toothed;

petioles 2-6 cm. long;

stipules lanceolate, entire to few-toothed.

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

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

Peduncles shorter than the leaves;

flowers 5-12 mm. long, spur very short;

petals yellow, brownish-penciled, the lateral pair bearded.

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.
Fruits

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

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

Viola purpurea

Viola canadensis
Flowering time May-August May-July
Habitat Open, rocky, fairly dry slopes, moderate to high elevations in the mountains Forest openings, riparian zones, and thickets from low to middle elevations.
Distribution
Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to Rocky Mountains.
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
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]
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. nephrophylla, V. nuttallii, V. odorata, V. orbiculata, V. palustris, V. pluviae, V. renifolia, V. riviniana, V. selkirkii, V. sempervirens, V. sheltonii, V. sororia, V. tricolor, V. trinervata, V. ×wittrockiana
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
Subordinate taxa
V. purpurea ssp. venosa
V. canadensis var. rugulosa
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the University of Washington's Burke Herbarium.



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in UW Burke Herbarium yet, or it's listed under a synonym.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora, UW Burke Herbarium

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers