E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

General:
Perennial herb from a rhizome and fibrous roots, without stolons; stems ascending to erect, smooth, leafless except on the uppermost section, 5-20 cm tall.

Leaves:
Basal leaves rounded to heart- or kidney-shaped, blunt- to saw-toothed, the blades 0.6-2 cm long, 1-3 cm wide, the stalks 8-16 cm long, hairy above and along the veins; stem leaves similar, the stalks shorter, equal to or longer than the blades; stipules lanceolate, 2-5 mm long, entire.

Flowers:
Inflorescence of single, axillary flowers; petals 5, yellow, the lower petal 9-12 mm long including the 1- to 2-mm long spur; flower stalks with distinctive purple lines; sepals 5, oblong, fringed in the upper half, and with a conspicuous purple-black stripe; style heads smooth.

Fruits:
Capsules, sparsely short-hairy, 8-12 mm long; seeds brown.

Notes:
Hybridizes with V. glabella. The other subspecies, ssp. biflora, is widely distributed in Eurasia and also occurs in AK, YT and CO.