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.
Sagebrush violet may be found on rocky hillsides, sagebrush flats, and on the gravelly soils of bunchrass.
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.