''Anemone hepatica'' ( syn. ''Hepatica nobilis''), the common hepatica, liverwort, liverleaf, kidneywort, or pennywort, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...

in the buttercup

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Ranunculaceae Ranunculaceae (, buttercup or crowfoot family; Latin "little frog", from "frog") is a family (biology), family of over 2,000 known species of flowering plants in 43 genera, distributed worldwide. The largest genera are ''Ranunculus'' (600 spec ...

, native to woodland in

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

regions of the Northern Hemisphere. This

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of ...

perennial In horticulture, the term perennial ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the year") is used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. It has thus been defined as a plant that lives more than 2 years. The term is also ...

grows from a

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome ( ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and Shoot (botany), shoots from its Node (botany), nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from ...

Description

Hepatica nobilis flowers - blue and pink - Keila

''Anemone hepatica'' grows high. Leaves and flowers emerge directly from the

, not from a stem above ground. The leaves have three lobes and are fleshy and hairless, wide and long. The upper side is dark green with whitish stripes and the lower side is violet or reddish brown. Leaves emerge during or after flowering and remain green through winter. The flowers are blue, purple, pink, or white and appear in winter or spring. They have five to ten oval showy

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s and three green

bract In botany, a bract is a modified or specialized leaf, associated with a reproductive structure such as a flower, inflorescence axis or cone scale. Bracts are usually different from foliage leaves in size, color, shape or texture. They also lo ...

Taxonomy

The taxonomy of the genus ''Anemone'' and its species is not fully resolved, but

phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics () is the study of the evolutionary history of life using observable characteristics of organisms (or genes), which is known as phylogenetic inference. It infers the relationship among organisms based on empirical dat ...

studies of many species of ''Anemone'' and related genera indicate that species of the genus '' Hepatica'' should be included under ''Anemone'' because of similarities both in molecular attributes and other shared morphologies. The circumscription of the taxon is also debated, some authors listing the North American var. ''acuta'' and var. ''obtusa'', while other list them as the separate species ''A. acutiloba'' and ''A. americana'', respectively.

Varieties

Varieties of ''Anemone hepatica'' that are sometimes recognized include: * ''Anemone hepatica'' var. ''japonica'', a synonym of ''Hepatica nobilis'' var. ''japonica'' , is native to the

Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

* ''Anemone hepatica'' var. ''acuta'', a synonym of '' Hepatica acutiloba'' , is native to eastern

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

* ''Anemone hepatica'' var. ''obtusa'', a synonym of '' Hepatica americana'' , is native to eastern North America Asian liverleaf.jpg, ''Anemone hepatica'' var. ''japonica''

Distribution and habitat

It is found in woods, thickets and meadows, especially in the mountains of continental Europe, North America and Japan.

Ecology

Hepatica flowers produce pollen but no nectar. In North America, the flowers first attract ''

Lasioglossum The sweat bee genus ''Lasioglossum'' is the largest of all bee genera, containing over 1800 species in numerous subgenera worldwide.Gibbs, J., et al. (2012)Phylogeny of halictine bees supports a shared origin of eusociality for ''Halictus'' an ...

'' sweat bees and small carpenter bees looking in vain for nectar. Then when the

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s begin to release pollen, the bees return to collect and feed on pollen.

Mining bee The Andrenidae (commonly known as mining bees) are a large, nearly cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan family of solitary, ground-nesting bees. Most of the family's diversity is located in temperate or arid areas (warm temperate xeric). It i ...

s sometimes visit the flowers, but prefer flowers that produce both nectar and pollen.

Toxicity

Like other Ranunculaceae, fresh liverwort contains

protoanemonin Protoanemonin (sometimes called anemonol or ranunculol) is a toxin whose glyosidic precursor ranunculin is found in many plants of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). When the plant is wounded or macerated, ranunculin is enzymatically broken ...

and is therefore slightly toxic. By drying the herb, protoanemonin is

dimerize In chemistry, dimerization is the process of joining two identical or similar Molecular entity, molecular entities by Chemical bond, bonds. The resulting bonds can be either strong or weak. Many symmetrical chemical species are described as dim ...

d to the non-toxic

anemonin Anemonin is a dibutenolide natural product found in members of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) such as ''Helleborus niger'', ''Ranunculus bulbosus'', ''Ranunculus ficaria, R. ficaria'', ''Ranunculus sardous, R. sardous'', ''Ranunculus scelera ...

Uses

Medieval

herbalist Herbal medicine (also called herbalism, phytomedicine or phytotherapy) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. Scientific evidence for the effectiveness of many herbal treatments ...

s believed it could be used to treat liver diseases, and may be used in current

folk medicine Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) refers to the knowledge, skills, and practices rooted in the cultural beliefs of various societies, especially Indigenous groups, used for maintaining health and treatin ...

. Under the name ''Hepatica nobilis'', which is regarded as a synonym, this plant has gained the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

Award of Garden Merit The Award of Garden Merit (AGM) is a long-established award for plants by the British Royal Horticultural Society (RHS). It is based on assessment of the plants' performance under UK growing conditions. It includes the full range of cultivated p ...

Culture

It is the official flower of the

Sweden Democrats The Sweden Democrats ( , SD ) is a Nationalism, nationalist and Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in Sweden founded in 1988. As of 2024, it is the largest member of Sweden's Right-wing politics, right-wing bloc and the sec ...

political party in Swedish politics.

Gallery

File:Ranuncolaceae - Anemone hepatica-2.JPG File:Anemone hepatica in the Horsan nature reserve.jpg File:Ranuncolaceae - Anemone hepatica.JPG File:Sinilill, makro.jpg File:Hepatica nobilis Kelchblätter W.jpg File:Hepatica nobilis kz1.jpg

References

External links

*
Flora of Pennsylvania
* {{Taxonbar, from1=Q15613598, from2=Q161050 hepatica Medicinal plants of Europe Medicinal plants of North America Flora of Europe Flora of Asia Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora of Eastern Canada Flora of the Northeastern United States Flora of the North-Central United States Flora of the Southeastern United States Flora without expected TNC conservation status