Burke: Viola purpurea vs. Viola odorata

	Viola purpurea	Viola odorata
		sweet blue 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.	Low, fragrant, creeping, soft-hairy perennial with stolons that root at the nodes.
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 tufted, cordate and rounded, petiolate, enlarging in summer.
Flowers	Peduncles shorter than the leaves; flowers 5-12 mm. long, spur very short; petals yellow, brownish-penciled, the lateral pair bearded.	Flowers blue-violet or white, rarely lilac, pink or yellow; sepals blunt.
Fruits	Fruit a 3-valved, puberulent capsule, ovary superior, placentation parietal.	Fruit a 3-valved capsule, ovary superior, placentation parietal.

	Viola purpurea	Viola odorata
Flowering time	May-August	March-September
Habitat	Open, rocky, fairly dry slopes, moderate to high elevations in the mountains	Sheltered, disturbed areas in somewhat moist soil.
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; British Columbia to California, east to Idaho; also in eastern North America. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Introduced from Europe
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. howellii, V. lanceolata, V. langsdorffii, V. macloskeyi, V. nephrophylla, V. nuttallii, 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 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 odorata

sweet blue 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.

Low, fragrant, creeping, soft-hairy perennial with stolons that root at the nodes.

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 tufted, cordate and rounded, petiolate, enlarging in summer.

Flowers

Peduncles shorter than the leaves;

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

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

Flowers blue-violet or white, rarely lilac, pink or yellow;

sepals blunt.