Hepatica

The leaves are three-lobed, leathery and lay close to the ground. The leaves are also green throughout the year, although they tend towards brownish/green for much of the year. The beautiful lavender, pink, or whitish flowers, at the end of 3-6” stems, emerge from the leaf litter early in the year before leaves on the forest canopy began to block the sunlight. The hepaticas and other spring ephemeral flowers finish blooming when sunlight is blocked by developing leaves in the forest canopy. There are two hepatica species in our area. They can be differentiated by looking at the tips of the leaf lobes. The round-lobed hepatica have, as their name implies, rounded tips on the leaf lobes while the lobes on the sharp-lobed hepatica end in a point. Fascinating Facts The hepatica is named for its three-lobed leaves, which resemble the three lobes of the human liver. Early herbalists believed that plants with shapes resembling parts of the human body were effective on diseases of those parts. For instance, the “Doctrine of Signatures” suggested that the three-lobed leaves of hepatica would prove effective on diseases of the liver. (It wasn't.) Hepatica was also known as “liverwort,” but shouldn’t be confused with a class of non-vascular plants called liverworts.

Hepatica Hepatica spp. Blooms: April and May Find It Crosby Farm Regional Park Tell Us Have you found this plant at other locations within the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (map)? If so, let us know the location by e-mail. Put the word "Plant" in the subject line.