Burke: Viola purpurea vs. Viola glabella

	Viola purpurea	Viola glabella
		pioneer violet, stream 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.	Puberulent perennial from widely spreading, scaly, fleshy rhizomes, the flowering stems 5-30 cm. tall, leafless the lower two-thirds.
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 ovate-cordate to reniform, abruptly pointed, the basal leaves with petioles 10-20 cm. long; stipules membranous, ovate to obovate, 5-10 mm. long, entire.
Flowers	Peduncles shorter than the leaves; flowers 5-12 mm. long, spur very short; petals yellow, brownish-penciled, the lateral pair bearded.	Flowers 8-14 mm. long, borne chiefly on the upper part of the stem, on peduncles about as long as the leaves; spur very short; petals clear yellow, the lower 3 with purple penciling, the lateral pair well bearded; style head copiously bearded.
Fruits	Fruit a 3-valved, puberulent capsule, ovary superior, placentation parietal.	Fruit a 3-valved capsule, ovary superior, placentation parietal, seeds brown.

	Viola purpurea	Viola glabella
Flowering time	May-August	March-July
Habitat	Open, rocky, fairly dry slopes, moderate to high elevations in the mountains	Moist woods and stream banks, low to middle elevations in the mountains.
Distribution	Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; British Columbia to California, east to Rocky Mountains. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Alaska to California, east to Alberta and Montana. [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. canadensis, V. flettii, 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: 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

Viola purpurea

Viola glabella

pioneer violet, stream 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.

Puberulent perennial from widely spreading, scaly, fleshy rhizomes, the flowering stems 5-30 cm. tall, leafless the lower two-thirds.

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 ovate-cordate to reniform, abruptly pointed, the basal leaves with petioles 10-20 cm. long;

stipules membranous, ovate to obovate, 5-10 mm. long, entire.

Flowers

Peduncles shorter than the leaves;

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

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

Flowers 8-14 mm. long, borne chiefly on the upper part of the stem, on peduncles about as long as the leaves;