Today, I went on a hunt for Hepatica. I don’t know why, but I desperately want to take a really good picture of Hepatica. I thought today might be the day. Last year, I found some blooming on March 31. And today was a much prettier day than that… Sunny. Warm. Most of the snow is gone. There’s a hill at Camp Timbercrest that is covered with the stuff. Alas… I found the bud you see at right. And many leaves:
But no open blooms…
We have two kinds of Hepatica around here… Sharp-lobed (Hepatica acutiloba) and Round-lobed (Hepatica americana). I have only found the Sharp-lobed variety so far. Even my photo from last year in Chautauqua Gorge was Sharp-lobed:
Both varieties are found in the east part of the continent. Round-lobed is found in a couple more states than Sharp-lobed, whose map this is.
The usefulness of this plant as a medicine for liver and kidney problems has been debated over the years. In 1883, nearly half a million pounds of leaves were harvested for such medicine. Native Americans once used a tea made from hepatica to soothe coughs and irritated throats. Today, the plant is known to have an astringent and a diuretic effect. (source)
According the Peterson Guide to Wildflowers, the Sharp-lobed variety can be white or pink and the Round-lobed can be white, pink, or violet-blue. According to Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, the two can hybridize resulting in plants with leaves whose lobes are somewhere between sharp and round.
I want to find (and photograph) one as purple as the one Mon@rch found in 2003:
Perhaps if I “put it out there,” my wish will come true!
Jennifer-
I’ve found that acutiloba is much more common that americana in Ohio’s woodlands as well. I’ve only seen americana a few times.
Tom
I know that it will be a matter of time and you will find it! Just make sure you get it as soon as it comes out! The coloring seems to fade over time!
The ones on our place are all white, but I saw some purple ones for the first time last month… gorgeous!
Didn’t they change the scientific names of these recently?
Rurality:
Yeah… the scientific name is different at the USDA Plant website, but I decided to list the ones in the field guides I had… I dunno the best way to go… I notice that several web-based lists have a section called “synonyms”. I’ve just been too lazy to keep up with it all… Darn DNA testing.
We have purple ones around here! I’ll be sure to photograph them in 2-3 weeks. Hope you beat me.
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