vkingdom Plantae - plants »  divisio Magnoliophyta - flowering plants »  class Rosopsida - eudicots » order Malpighiales »  family Violaceae »  tribus Violeae > genus Viola > Viola sect. Chamaemelanium Ging.  > Viola subsect. Canadenses W. Becker

Viola flettii Piper - Olympic Violet

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Distributional Range: Native Northern America NORTHWESTERN U.S.A.: United States [Washington (n. Olympic Mts.)]

Distribution and ecology —Alpine and subalpine rock crevices, vertical faces, talus slopes; 1100–2000 m. Occurring at the upper tree-line, 1371-1829 m (4500-6000 ft), V. flettii is growing in the seams and crevices of dark red basalt outcroppings of the crescent formation, and in loose talus at the base of the slopes. Lower plants are grazed by deer if they can get a foothold in the crumbling rocks.  Found only in the Olympic Mountains of the eastern Olympic Peninsula, Washington: Mt. Angeles, Mt. Constance and Mt. Elinor, the Devil’s Backbone, Dinosaur Ridge. The distribution of this violet is very limited by the availability of suitable rocky habitats in a narrow climate range.    

During two periods of glaciation in the last Ice Age, 18,000 and 15,000 years ago, most of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State was covered by extensive glaciers. However the tops of the higher peaks on the eastern edge of the peninsula did not freeze, because they were in a rain shadow with warmer temperatures. These mountain tops became island refuges for several endemic plant species including Flett’s violet, Viola flettii. Evolving in isolation for thousands of years it developed such precise living requirements that it is unable to adapt elsewhere and, therefore, cultivation is also very difficult. Because of its very limited subalpine habitat, this glacial relict is a rare species. 

References:

1. Hitchcock, C. L. et al. 1955-1969. Vascular plants of the Pacific Northwest.

2. Holmgren, N. H. 1992. Two new species of Viola (Violaceae from the intermountain west, USA. Brittonia 44:303.

3. Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening

4. Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third.