Viola altaica Ker-Gawl.

Herbs perennial, 4-15 cm tall. Rhizome slender, branched. Stems very short, densely covered with numerous leaves usually clustered. Stipules ovate or oblong, 1-2.6 cm × 4-11 mm, pinnatifid, terminal lobe larger, oblong-ovate, lateral lobes 2 or 3 on each side, lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, margin sparsely puberulous; petiole usually longer than leaf blade; leaf blade orbicular-ovate or oblong-ovate, 1.2-2 × 1-1.4 cm, both surfaces subglabrous or sparsely puberulous, base ± cuneate, margin rounded-dentate, apex obtuse. Flowers usually solitary, yellow or blue purple, large, 2-4.5 cm in diam.; pedicels 5-16 cm, glabrous. Sepals oblong-lanceolate, 8-13 × 3-4 mm, margin usually remotely denticulate, apex ± acute, basal auricles broader, often denticulate. Upper petals subovate-orbicular, lateral ones and anterior one conspicuously purple-black striate, lateral ones inside usually slightly barbate at base; spur of anterior petal 3-4 mm, slightly exceeding basal auricles of sepals, usually slightly curved upward. Capsule oblong-ovoid. Fl. Jun-Aug, fr. Sep. 2n = 54.

Xinjiang [Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russia (Siberia); SW Asia (Caucasus), SE Europe (Ukraine)].

Alpine and subalpine meadows, forests on mountain slopes, grasslands, among mosses and lichens; 1500-4000 m.