Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Ranunculales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Hepatica americana
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 Round-lobed Hepatica from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Hepatica nobilis var. obtusa
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Anemone americana
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 076-15-002:
Hepatica americana FAMILY Ranunculaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Hepatica hepatica
COMMON NAME:
Round-lobed Hepatica, Round-lobed Liverleaf
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_hehe8_001_lvd
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Keith Bradley kab_a_americana_3701
February McCormick County SC
Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve
Blossoms appear among the previous year's leaves and before the new ones are fully developed, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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Keith Bradley kab_a_americana_3742
February McCormick County SC
Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve
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Keith Bradley kab_a_americana_3745
February McCormick County SC
Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve
)
Laura Godfrey lau_022622_hepatica2_9xb
February Pickens County SC
Nine Times Preserve
The flowers are 0.5-1" across, and may be blue, violet, pink, or sometimes white, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
Laura Godfrey lau_022622_hepatica9x
February Pickens County SC
Nine Times Preserve
Flowers borne singly on long hairy stalks, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
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Jim Fanning jcf_hepatica1
March Pickens County SC
SC Botanical Garden
Leaves 3-lobed with rounded tips, wider than long, persisting thru winter, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
COMPARE
Hepatica species
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JK Marlow jkm0403d_33
March Pickens County SC
SC Botanical Garden
Flowers have 5-12 sepals (no petals) & numerous stamens & ovaries, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
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JK Marlow jkm090313_020
March Pickens County SC
Clemson Forest
)
JK Marlow jkm110319_055
March Pickens County SC
Hagood Mill
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JK Marlow jkm120309_169
March Greenville County SC
In cultivation
Leaves purplish beneath, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
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JK Marlow jkm120309_174
March Greenville County SC
In cultivation
What appear to be petals are actually sepals, and beneath these are 3 bracts simulating a calyx, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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JK Marlow jkm120309_178
March Greenville County SC
In cultivation
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JK Marlow jkm120325_815
March McCormick County SC
Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve
Hepatica species are the only plants in the Ranunculaceae in which all of the leaves are basal, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
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Keith Bradley kab_a_americana_2711
March Newberry County SC
Lynch's Woods Park
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Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_hepatica_americana_18
March
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Alan S. Weakley asw_3418556375084892
April Orange County NC
North Carolina Botanical Garden
)
Wesley Burnett gwb661_1960
April McCormick County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm170419_378
April Polk County NC
Pearson's Falls
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JK Marlow jkm220419_7005
April Pickens County SC
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Hepatica americana
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Hepatica nobilis var. obtusa
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Anemone americana
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 076-15-002:
Hepatica americana
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
INCLUDED WITHIN
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Hepatica hepatica
661
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Moist forests, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common (uncommon in Carolina Coastal Plain) (rare in GA Coastal Plain)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Evergreen
Simple
Basal
FLOWER:
Winter/Spring
Blue/ Lavender/ White/ Pink
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) p136
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p010
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p185
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p232
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p131
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p338
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p435
- 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 of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p045
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