[Violets: The Genus Viola in Mount Adams Country]

Desert Pansy, Rainier Violet, Sagebrush Violet, Three-nerved Violet

Viola trinervata

Three-nerved violet blooming on a southwest-facing slope at the east rim of Canyon Creek, Klickitat Wildlife Area.........March 26, 2015.

Sideview of the flower of Desert Pansy, Rainier Violet, Sagebrush Violet, Three-nerved Violet: Viola trinervata The photo at right shows a lateral view of the flower of 3-nerved violet.

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 northeast Sherman and Malheur Counties, OR.

In the Columbia River Gorge, it may only be found in undamaged uplands near the Klickitat River and farther east, it is found in the uplands around Rock Creek.

Parted leaf of Desert Pansy, Rainier Violet, Sagebrush Violet, Three-nerved Violet: Viola trinervata

The leaf of the 3-nerved violet. Note the glaucous leaf surface.

Three-nerved violet blooming on a southwest-facing slope at the Klickitat Breaks, Klickitat Wildlife Area.........February 26, 2015.

Sagebrush violets blooming at the Klickitat Breaks, Soda Springs Unit, Klickitat Wildlife Area......March 31, 2021.

Sagebrush violets blooming in an old agricultural field about one-quarter mile east of the east rim of Canyon Creek, Klickitat Wildlife Area......March 31, 2019.

Sagebrush violets blooming in an old agricultural field about one-quarter mile east of the east rim of Canyon Creek, Klickitat Wildlife Area......April 8, 2023.

Three-nerved violet as seen in Brooks Memorial State Park near Satus Pass, Klickitat County, WA.........April 28, 2014.

Posterior view of the flower of Desert Pansy, Rainier Violet, Sagebrush Violet, Three-nerved Violet: Viola trinervata

The photo above shows the back of the petals of 3-nerved violet. The upper pair of petals are darker while the lower trio of petals are lighter in color.

Paul Slichter