| | 1. Corolla throat slightly > lobes; leaves simple or compound, most basal |
| |
| | 2. Corolla throat wide, base strongly swollen, oblique; leaves generally short-hairy; plants generally with bisexual flowers |
| V. californica |
| | 2' Corolla throat tapered to tube, base barely swollen; leaves generally glabrous; some plants with bisexual flowers, some with pistillate flowers — Warner Mountains |
| V. occidentalis |
| | 1' Corolla throat ± 2 × lobes; leaves generally compound, basal and cauline |
| |
| | 3. Leaves mostly basal and simple; White and Inyo Mountains |
| V. pubicarpa |
| | 3' Leaves basal and cauline, mostly lobed or compound; Northwestern California |
| V. sitchensis |
| | 4. Leaflets not lobed, fine-crenate to fine-dentate; fruit 5–6 mm, lanceolate to ± oblong in outline; < 1200 m |
| subsp. scouleri |
| | 4' Leaflets irregularly lobed or sparsely toothed; fruit ± 4 mm, ovoid or narrowly so; 1500–2200 m |
| subsp. sitchensis
|