Burke: Viola trinervata vs. Viola sheltonii

	Viola trinervata	Viola sheltonii
	desert pansy, 3-nerved violet, sagebrush violet	fan violet, Shelton's violet
Habit	Glabrous, somewhat glaucous perennial from short, thick, very deep-seated rhizomes, the stems several, naked below, 5-15 cm. tall.	Glabrous perennial from deep-seated rhizomes, the flowering stems 5-15 cm. tall.
Leaves	Leaf blades palmately lobed or compound, the main segments once or twice dissected, the ultimate segments narrowly elliptic, 1.5-4 cm. long; leaves leathery, prominently 3-nerved on the lower surface; petioles longer than the blades.	Leaf blades glaucous and somewhat purplish on the lower surface, 2-5 cm. long and broad, deeply cleft into 3 main lobes and dissected into ultimate linear segments; stipules small, membranous, comb-like.
Flowers	Peduncles exceeding the leaves; flowers about 1.5 cm. long, usually bicolored, the upper pair deep reddish-violet, the lower 3 pale to deep lilac, with yellowish or whitish base and purple penciling, occasionally all white or all deep purple; style head hairy.	Flowers about 12 mm. long, yellow, the upper pair of petals brownish-backed, the lower three purplish-penciled, the lateral pair sparsely bearded; style head sparsely bearded.
Fruits	Fruit a 3-valved capsule, ovary superior, placentation parietal.	Fruit a 3-valved, puberulent capsule, ovary superior, placentation parietal.

	Viola trinervata	Viola sheltonii
Flowering time	March-June	April-June
Habitat	Sagebrush flats and rocky hillsides, often on lithosol, where vernally moist.	Coniferous forest understory, often associated with moss-covered boulder fields with well-developed organic layer.
Distribution	Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; north-central Washington to southeastern Oregon. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]	Occurring on both sides of the Cascades crest in Washington; Washington to California, east to Idaho; also in Colorado. [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. purpurea, V. renifolia, V. riviniana, V. selkirkii, V. sempervirens, V. sheltonii, V. sororia, V. tricolor, 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. sororia, V. tricolor, V. trinervata, V. ×wittrockiana
Web links	Local floras: OR, 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	Local floras: 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 sheltonii

desert pansy, 3-nerved violet, sagebrush violet

fan violet, Shelton's violet

Habit

Glabrous, somewhat glaucous perennial from short, thick, very deep-seated rhizomes, the stems several, naked below, 5-15 cm. tall.

Glabrous perennial from deep-seated rhizomes, the flowering stems 5-15 cm. tall.

Leaves

Leaf blades palmately lobed or compound, the main segments once or twice dissected, the ultimate segments narrowly elliptic, 1.5-4 cm. long;

leaves leathery, prominently 3-nerved on the lower surface;

petioles longer than the blades.

Leaf blades glaucous and somewhat purplish on the lower surface, 2-5 cm. long and broad, deeply cleft into 3 main lobes and dissected into ultimate linear segments;

stipules small, membranous, comb-like.

Flowers

Peduncles exceeding the leaves;

flowers about 1.5 cm. long, usually bicolored, the upper pair deep reddish-violet, the lower 3 pale to deep lilac, with yellowish or whitish base and purple penciling, occasionally all white or all deep purple;

style head hairy.

Flowers about 12 mm. long, yellow, the upper pair of petals brownish-backed, the lower three purplish-penciled, the lateral pair sparsely bearded;

style head sparsely bearded.

Fruits

Fruit a 3-valved capsule, ovary superior, placentation parietal.

Fruit a 3-valved, puberulent capsule, ovary superior, placentation parietal.