Hepatica Americana

''Hepatica'' (hepatica, liverleaf, or liverwort) is a genus of herbaceous perennials in the buttercup family, native to central and northern Europe, Asia and eastern North America. Some botanists include ''Hepatica'' within a wider interpretation of ''Anemone''.

Description

Bisexual flowers with pink, purple, blue, or white sepals and three green bracts appear singly on hairy stems from late winter to spring. Butterflies, moths, bees, flies and beetles are known pollinators.

The leaves are basal, leathery, and usually three-lobed, remaining over winter.

Taxonomy

''Hepatica'' was described by the English botanist Philip Miller in 1754. It was proposed as a subgenus of ''Anemone'' in 1836, but later segregated into genus ''Hepatica''.

Taxa

, Kew's Plants of the World Online (POWO) accepts 7 species and one hybrid in the genus ''Hepatica'':

One infraspecific taxon is also recognized by POWO:

* ''Hepatica nobilis'' var. ''japonica''
** Synonym: ''Hepatica asiatica''
** Synonym: ''Hepatica insularis''

''Hepatica'' can be divided into two series with respect to leaf edge:

Series ''Triloba''

The leaves of the series ''Triloba'' Ulbr.Ulbrich, O.E.: Über die systematische Gliederung und geographische Verbreitung der Gattung Anemone L. Bot. Jahrb. Syst. (1905) 37: 172 - 257, 38: 257 - 334. Tamura:Tamura, M.: Morphology, ecology and phylogeny of the Ranunculaceae” VII. Science reports of South College, North College of Osaka University, Japan 16:21-43, 1968. are three-lobed with a smooth leaf edge.

* ''Hepatica acutiloba'': Eastern Canada, Midwestern United States, Eastern United States
* ''Hepatica americana'': Central Canada, Eastern Canada, Midwestern United States, Eastern United States
* ''Hepatica maxima'': endemic to Ulleung-do island (South Korea)
* ''Hepatica nobilis'':
** ''Hepatica nobilis'' var. ''nobilis'': Europe to Western Siberia
** ''Hepatica nobilis'' var. ''japonica'': Russian Far East, North China, Central China, East China, Korea, and Japan (Honshu, Shikoku, north of Kyushu island)

Series ''Angulosa''

The leaves of series ''Angulosa'' (Ulbr.) Tamura are three- to five-lobed with a crenate leaf edge.

* ''Hepatica falconeri'' — Mountain forests of Central Asia; India: Northwest Himalayas (Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir); Northwest China ( Tienshan); Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (Pamir-Alai); North Pakistan, Kazakhstan (North Tienshan)
* ''Hepatica henryi'': North Central China, South Central China (western Hubei, northern Hunan, Sichuan, Shaanxi)
* ''Hepatica × media'': Romania
* ''Hepatica transsilvanica'': Romania (Carpathian Mountains, Transylvania)

Etymology

The word ''hepatica'' derives from the Greek , from 'liver', because its three-lobed leaf was thought to resemble the human liver.

Distribution

Plants of genus ''Hepatica'' are native to Europe, Asia, and North America.

* Europe: Albania, Austria, the Baltic states, Belarus, Bulgaria, Corsica, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, European Russia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Yugoslavia
* Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Western Siberia
* Eastern Asia: North China, South Central China, East China, Japan, Korea, Manchuria, Primorsky Krai
* South Asia: Pakistan, Western Himalaya
* Canada: Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Québec
* United States: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin

Plants of the genus have been introduced to Belgium.

Cultivation

''Hepatica'' cultivation has been popular in Japan since the 18th century (mid-Edo period), where flowers with doubled petals and a range of colour patterns have been developed.

Noted for its tolerance of alkaline limestone-derived soils, ''Hepatica'' may grow in a wide range of conditions; it can be found either in deeply shaded deciduous (especially beech) woodland and scrub or grassland in full sun. ''Hepatica'' will also grow in both sandy and clay-rich substrates, being associated with limestone. Moist soil and winter snowfall are required; ''Hepatica'' is tolerant of winter snow cover, but less so of dry frost.

Propagation is done by seeds or by dividing vigorous clumps in spring. However, seedlings take several years to reach bloom size, and divided plants are slow to thicken.

Uses

''Hepatica'' was once used as a medicinal herb. Owing to the doctrine of signatures, the plant was once thought to be an effective treatment for liver disorders. Although poisonous in large doses, the leaves and flowers may be used as an astringent, as a demulcent for slow-healing injuries, and as a diuretic.

References

External links

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{{Taxonbar, from=Q157505

Ranunculaceae genera
Medicinal plants of Asia
Medicinal plants of Europe
Medicinal plants of North America
Taxa named by Philip Miller