Bates et al. 2009, Kearney and Peebles 1969, McDougall 1973
Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Low growing, herbaceous perennials, to 15(-50) cm tall, pilose throughout, with stolons or tubers, tubers white to purple, round to ellipsoid, not spiny. Leaves: Alternate, pubescent to somewhat glabrous, pinnately compound, leaflets ovate to elliptic, mostly less than 2 times longer than wide, the terminal leaflet usually much larger than the lateral leaflets, the younger leaves sometimes purple beneath and petioled. Flowers: Blue, purple, white, or purple-tinged, pentagonal-rotate, 5-parted, the lobes 1-2 times as long as the tube, Inflorescences lateral, solitary, or in racemose or paniculate cymes, stamens 5, inserted on the corolla tube, filaments short, anthers oblong. Fruits: Green to white or green with white spots, fruit not closely invested by the calyx. Seeds ovate, flattened, green to white, numerous. Ecology: Found in open coniferous forests from 6,500-9,000 ft (1981-2743 m); flowering July-October. Notes: The keys to this species are the purple flowers, the herbage not spiny, and the fruit not closely invested by the calyx. This species is common and widespread, and is morphologically variable. Synonyms: None Editor: LCrumbacher, 2011