Three-nerved Violet, Rainier Violet, Sagebrush Violet
Viola trinervata
The photo above shows sagebrush violet as seen from the lower Deschutes River to the north of Sherar's
Bridge........March 24, 2007.
The photo at right shows a sagebrush violet as seen from
the lower Deschutes River, north of Sherar's Bridge.......March 22, 1997. This and several nearby indviduals have white rather than lavender colored lower petals. Click the photo to see a larger view.
Characteristics:
Sagebrush violet is a very pretty pretty wildflower
with several to many basal leaves and erect flower stems arising above the leaves
to a height from 5-15 cm. The leaves are palmately cleft or lobed, each segment
with 3-5 narrow lobes. The individual leaf segments are narrowly elliptical,
somewhat leathery, with 3 prominent veins, and range from 1.5-4 cm long. The
surface of the leaves are a glaucous blue-green or blue-gray.
The flowers are about 1.5 cm long and are bicolored,
with the upper two petals a deep reddish-violet, the lower three a pale to deep
lilac, with the throat either yellowish or whitish. Some purple penciling may
be seen in the throat.
Habitat:
Sagebrush violet may be found on rocky hillsides,
sagebrush flats, and on the gravelly soils of bunchrass.
Range:
Sagebrush violet may be found east of the Cascade
Mts from Okanogan County, WA south to northeastern Sherman and Malheur Counties,
OR.
- 
The photo at left shows one of the abundant, large patches of three-nerved violet as seen in Upper Cowiche Canyon at the western outskirts of Yakima, WA........March 28, 2007. The photo at right shows a sagebrush violet observed along Box Canyon Road on BLM lands to the east of the gated trailhead at the end of the driveable road, north-central Klickitat County, WA.......May 22, 2022.
Three-nerved violets as seen near the summit of the Yakima Skyline Trail, north of Selah, WA..........March 22, 2008.
Three-nerved violets as seen on Selah Butte, northeast of Selah, WA...........March 22, 2008.
a) 
- b) 
- c) 
d) 
- e) 
- f) 
The photos above represent different flavors of the petal colors of three-nerved violet. Click each photo to see an enlarged version. Photos a & b were photographed along the Yakima Skyline Trail. Photo c was seen at Cowiche Mt. Photos d-f were taken at Selah Butte..........All were taken March 22-23, 2008.
Three-nerved violet as seen along the Deschutes River........March 22, 2007.
- 
A nice clump of sagebrush violets as seen (left) along the Mabton Road east of Bickleton, WA in Yakima County........April 18, 2010 . The photo at right shows sagebrush violets blooming in scablands along the main east-west access road through the Simcoe Mountains Unit of the Klickitat Wildlife Area.........April 11, 2017.
- 
- 
Sagebrush violets observed along Box Canyon Road on BLM lands to the east of the gated trailhead at the end of the driveable road, north-central Klickitat County, WA.......April 1, 2022.
- 
Three-nerved violet as seen (left) in vernally moist prairie at Brooks Memorial State Park near Satus Pass, Washington........May 11, 2014. The photo at right shows three-nerved violet as seen in lithosol soils atop Bickleton Ridge in the Simcoe Mountains Unit of the Klickitat Wildlife Area.......May 7, 2017.
- 
Sagebrush violets blooming at left along old roads through the Simcoe Mountains Unit of the Klickitat Wildlife Area......April 20, 2018. The photo at right shows a maturing seed pod of sagebrush violet as seen in the Oak Creek Wildlife Area, Yakima County, WA......June 8, 2019.
- 
Sagebrush violets from Lower Deschutes River, OR... north of Sherar's
Bridge.....3/22/97.
Paul Slichter