Burke: Viola sororia vs. Viola affinis

	Viola sororia	Viola affinis
	northern blue violet, northern woodland violet
Habit		Glabrous, acaulescent perennial with shallow, fleshy, spreading rhizomes.
Leaves		Leaf blades deeply ovate-cordate to cordate-triangular, up to 7 cm. in width, with rounded teeth; petioles 5-25 cm. long; stipules linear-lanceolate, entire.
Flowers		Flowers solitary, 10-20 mm. long, on peduncles usually exceeding the leaves; spur short, saccate; petals 5, bluish-violet, the lower 3 whitish at the base, prominently bearded, the upper pair sometimes not bearded; style glabrous.
Fruits		Capsule, 3-valved.

	Viola sororia	Viola affinis
Flowering time	May-July	May-July
Habitat	Dry to moist forest openings, thickets, meadows, and stream banks at middle elevations.	Moist places, especially in meadows and along streams.
Distribution	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in northeastern Washington; Yukon Territory to California, east to the Rocky Mountains, northern Great Plains, Great Lakes region, and northeastern North America. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring chiefly east of the Cascades crest in Washington; Yukon Territory to California, east across most of North America to the Atlantic Coast. [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native	Native
Conservation status	Review Group 1 in Washington (WANHP)	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. purpurea, V. renifolia, V. riviniana, V. selkirkii, V. sempervirens, V. sheltonii, 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. 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
Web links	Local floras: BC, OR, WA Local Web sites: 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	Local floras: CA 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 sororia

Viola affinis

northern blue violet, northern woodland violet

Habit

Glabrous, acaulescent perennial with shallow, fleshy, spreading rhizomes.

Leaves

Leaf blades deeply ovate-cordate to cordate-triangular, up to 7 cm. in width, with rounded teeth;

petioles 5-25 cm. long;

stipules linear-lanceolate, entire.

Flowers

Flowers solitary, 10-20 mm. long, on peduncles usually exceeding the leaves;

spur short, saccate;

petals 5, bluish-violet, the lower 3 whitish at the base, prominently bearded, the upper pair sometimes not bearded;

style glabrous.

Fruits

Capsule, 3-valved.

Viola sororia

Viola affinis

Flowering time

May-July

Habitat

Dry to moist forest openings, thickets, meadows, and stream banks at middle elevations.

Moist places, especially in meadows and along streams.

Distribution

Occurring east of the Cascades crest in northeastern Washington; Yukon Territory to California, east to the Rocky Mountains, northern Great Plains, Great Lakes region, and northeastern North America.

[WildflowerSearch map]

[BONAP county map]