Hepatica
| Hepatica | ||||||||||||
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Hepatica acutiloba Hepatica americana Hepatica nobilis Hepatica transsilvanica |
Hepatica (Hepatica nobilis) is a herbaceous perennial plant belonging to the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. A native of central and northern Europe, Asia and northeastern North America, Hepatica is sometimes called liverleaf or "American liverwort". It should not be confused with true liverwort, which are confusingly called "hepatics" on occasion. A few botanists include Hepatica within a wider interpretation of Anemone, as Anemone hepatica.
About ten species and several varieties of Hepatica are recognised, including:
- H. nobilis var. hepatica - European hepatica - Alps north to Scandinavia
- H. transsilvanica - Carpathian Mountains and Transylvania
- H. acutiloba - Sharplobe hepatica - North America
- H. americana - Roundlobe hepatica - North America
Hepatica reaches a height of 10 centimetres and produces hermaphroditic flowers from February to March. The leaves are basal and dark leathery green, each with three pointed lobes. The flowers may be white, bluish purple or pink; they are supported singularly on largely leafless, hairy stems. Butterflies, moths, bees, flies and beetles are known pollinators.
Named from its leaves, which like the human liver have three lobes (from the Greek hepar), Hepatica was onced used as a medicinal herb. Owing to the doctrine of signatures, the plant was thought an effective treatment for liver disorders. Although poisonous in large doses, the leaves and flowers may be used as an astringent, demulcent for slow-healing injuries and as a diuretic.
See also: List of garden plants