Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Ranunculales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Hepatica acutiloba
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read about Hepatica and Anemone from Alan Weakley and the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society.
Learn more about Sharp-lobed Hepatica from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Hepatica nobilis var. acuta
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Anemone acutiloba
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 076-15-001:
Hepatica acutiloba FAMILY Ranunculaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Hepatica acuta
COMMON NAME:
Sharp-lobed Hepatica, Sharp-lobed Liverleaf
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_heac4_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm090102_045
January Walker County GA
The Pocket on Pigeon Mountain
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_h_acutiloba
February
)
Ben Geer Keys bgk660_a
March
Flowers solitary on elongate, hairy stalks, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).
)
JK Marlow jkm0303l_07
March Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
Old leaves present at early flowering; new leaves develop later, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).
)
JK Marlow jkm0503d_07
March Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
Seedlings?
)
JK Marlow jkm080316_014
March Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
)
JK Marlow jkm080316_022
March Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
Flowers are subtended by 3 green bracts with pointed tips, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm140322_340
March Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
)
JK Marlow jkm140322_349
March Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
Fruit an aggregate of achenes, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
COMPARE
fruits that are an aggregate of achenes
)
JK Marlow jkm150322_903
March Pickens County SC
Nine Times Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm150322_909
March Pickens County SC
Nine Times Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm150322_913
March Pickens County SC
Nine Times Preserve
Flowers solitary on elongate, villous or pilose scapes, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm200321_3297
March Polk County NC
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_hepatica_acutiloba_3
March
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_hepatica_acutiloba_5
March
The 5-12 petal-like sepals are white, pink, lavender, purple or blue, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm140418_294
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm140418_366
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Deformed leaves with a rust fungus.
)
JK Marlow jkm170413_574
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm170413_574b
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm170419_377
April Polk County NC
Pearson's Falls
)
JK Marlow jkm220421_7088
April Pickens County SC
Nine Times Preserve
)
Keith Bradley kab_a_acutiloba_1784
April Haywood County NC
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
Keith Bradley kab_a_acutiloba_1796
April Haywood County NC
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
Steve Marlow snm090405_013
April Walker County GA
The Pocket on Pigeon Mountain
)
JK Marlow jkm0409e_02
September Oconee County SC
Oconee Station/Station Cove
Three-lobed evergreen leaves w sharply pointed tips, hence the common name, per Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011).
COMPARE
Hepatica species
)
JK Marlow jkm0311b_30
November Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Hepatica acutiloba
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Hepatica nobilis var. acuta
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Anemone acutiloba
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 076-15-001:
Hepatica acutiloba
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Hepatica acuta
660
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Moist forests, especially over calcareous or mafic rocks, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Uncommon (rare in GA Piedmont & in SC)
Click here to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Evergreen
Simple
Basal
FLOWER:
Winter/Spring
White/ Pink/ Lavender/ Blue
5-6(-12) petaloid sepals
Petals absent
Numerous stamens
Superior ovary
FRUIT:
Spring
Aggregate of single-seeded achenes
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p116
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p135
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p010
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p126
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p338
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p175
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p014
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p078
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p301
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p039
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p060
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p384
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p045