Burke: Viola purpurea vs. Viola howellii

	Viola purpurea	Viola howellii
		Howell's 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.	Sparsely pubescent perennial from scaly rhizomes, 2-10 cm. 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 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.
Flowers	Peduncles shorter than the leaves; flowers 5-12 mm. long, spur very short; petals yellow, brownish-penciled, the lateral pair bearded.	Flowers 1.5-2 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.
Fruits	Fruit a 3-valved, puberulent capsule, ovary superior, placentation parietal.	Fruit a 3-valved capsule, ovary superior, placentation parietal, seeds light brown.

	Viola purpurea	Viola howellii
Flowering time	May-August	April-May
Habitat	Open, rocky, fairly dry slopes, moderate to high elevations in the mountains	Moist woods and prairies at low to moderate 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 and in the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; southwestern British Columbia to California. [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. 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
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 howellii

Howell's 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.

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

Flowers

Peduncles shorter than the leaves;

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

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

Flowers 1.5-2 cm. long, the spur very prominent, saccate;