OF THE CAROLINAS & GEORGIA

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



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.

image of Hepatica americana, Round-lobed Hepatica, Round-lobed Liverleaf

USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913    pnd_hehe8_001_lvd

        

image of Hepatica americana, Round-lobed Hepatica, Round-lobed Liverleaf

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).

image of Hepatica americana, Round-lobed Hepatica, Round-lobed Liverleaf

Keith Bradley    kab_a_americana_3742

February    McCormick County    SC

Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve

image of Hepatica americana, Round-lobed Hepatica, Round-lobed Liverleaf

Keith Bradley    kab_a_americana_3745

February    McCormick County    SC

Stevens Creek Heritage Preserve

image of Hepatica americana, Round-lobed Hepatica, Round-lobed Liverleaf

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).

image of Hepatica americana, Round-lobed Hepatica, Round-lobed Liverleaf

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).

image of Hepatica americana, Round-lobed Hepatica, Round-lobed Liverleaf

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).


click here to see other plants that look similar to this COMPARE Hepatica species

image of Hepatica americana, Round-lobed Hepatica, Round-lobed Liverleaf

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).

image of Hepatica americana, Round-lobed Hepatica, Round-lobed Liverleaf

JK Marlow    jkm090313_020

March    Pickens County    SC

Clemson Forest

image of Hepatica americana, Round-lobed Hepatica, Round-lobed Liverleaf

JK Marlow    jkm110319_055

March    Pickens County    SC

Hagood Mill

image of Hepatica americana, Round-lobed Hepatica, Round-lobed Liverleaf

JK Marlow    jkm120309_169

March    Greenville County    SC

In cultivation

Leaves purplish beneath, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).

image of Hepatica americana, Round-lobed Hepatica, Round-lobed Liverleaf

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).

image of Hepatica americana, Round-lobed Hepatica, Round-lobed Liverleaf

JK Marlow    jkm120309_178

March    Greenville County    SC

In cultivation

image of Hepatica americana, Round-lobed Hepatica, Round-lobed Liverleaf

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).

image of Hepatica americana, Round-lobed Hepatica, Round-lobed Liverleaf

Keith Bradley    kab_a_americana_2711

March    Newberry County    SC

Lynch's Woods Park

image of Hepatica americana, Round-lobed Hepatica, Round-lobed Liverleaf

Richard and Teresa Ware    rtw_hepatica_americana_18

March        

image of Hepatica americana, Round-lobed Hepatica, Round-lobed Liverleaf

Alan S. Weakley    asw_3418556375084892

April    Orange County    NC

North Carolina Botanical Garden

image of Hepatica americana, Round-lobed Hepatica, Round-lobed Liverleaf

Wesley Burnett    gwb661_1960

April    McCormick County    SC

image of Hepatica americana, Round-lobed Hepatica, Round-lobed Liverleaf

JK Marlow    jkm170419_378

April    Polk County    NC

Pearson's Falls

image of Hepatica americana, Round-lobed Hepatica, Round-lobed Liverleaf

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

 

Find by SCIENTIFIC NAME:

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)

map
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!



 


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