Burke: Viola purpurea vs. Viola flettii

	Viola purpurea	Viola flettii
		Flett's violet, Olympic 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 perennial from short, thick rhizomes, the stems 3-15 cm. long.
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.	Leaves fleshy, petiolate, purplish-green, the blades reniform, 1.5-4 cm. broad, finely round-toothed; stipules lanceolate, toothed.
Flowers	Peduncles shorter than the leaves; flowers 5-12 mm. long, spur very short; petals yellow, brownish-penciled, the lateral pair bearded.	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.
Fruits	Fruit a 3-valved, puberulent capsule, ovary superior, placentation parietal.	Fruit a 3-valved capsule, ovary superior, placentation parietal.

	Viola purpurea	Viola flettii
Flowering time	May-August	June-August
Habitat	Open, rocky, fairly dry slopes, moderate to high elevations in the mountains	Alpine rock crevices and talus slopes at high 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 west of the Cascades crest in Washington, where endemic to the Olympic Mountains [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern	Review Group 1 in Washington (WANHP)
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. 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
Subordinate taxa	V. purpurea ssp. venosa
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: 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

Viola purpurea

Viola flettii

Flett's violet, Olympic 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 perennial from short, thick rhizomes, the stems 3-15 cm. long.

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.

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

stipules lanceolate, toothed.

Flowers

Peduncles shorter than the leaves;

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

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

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