General: Perennial from a scaly rhizome, without stolons; stems erect, smooth, 3-5 cm tall.
Leaves: Basal leaves evergreen (or at least some of them), round, bases deeply heart-shaped, toothed, smooth, the blades 1.5-4 cm long, 2-4 cm wide, the stalks up to 5 cm long; stem leaves similar, reduced; stipules lanceolate, entire.
Flowers: Inflorescence of single, axillary flowers; petals 5, yellow, the lower petal 0.5-1.5 cm long including the 1- to 2-mm long spur, the lower 3 purplish-pencilled, the lateral pair yellow-bearded; sepals 5, lanceolate; style heads short-bearded.
Mesic to moist meadows and forests the montane to alpine zones; frequent in BC south of 56degreeN, absent in the Queen Charlotte Islands; E to AB, and S to WY, ID and OR.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
A shade- tolerant/intolerant, montane to alpine, Western North American forb distributed equally in the Pacific and Cordilleran regions. Occurs on moderately dry to fresh, nitrogen-medium soils within boreal, wet cool temperate, and cool mesothermal climates; its occurrence decreases with increasing latitude. Common in mossy understories on water-shedding sites; occasionally persist on cutover areas.
