Hepatica

Hepatica, a genus of hardy perennial plants belonging to the natural order Ranunculaceæ, closely related to Anemone, and formerly included in that genus under the name A. Hepatica. H. triloba is the best-known species, and has long been extremely popular in the flower-garden on account of its flowering in early spring in great profusion; the flowers of the several varieties being also very brilliantly coloured. The normal colour of the species appears to be purple, but there are varieties with red, deep blue—of these there are single and double-flowered forms—and pure white flowers. It is a native of many hilly parts of Europe. Its roots are powerfully astringent, but have not the acrid qualities possessed by many of the Ranunculaceæ. H. angulosa is the only other species known to cultivation; it is larger in all its parts; the flowers are pale blue. It is a native of Transylvania, and both species delight in partial shade rather than full exposure to the sun.—For another kind of Hepatica, see LIVERWORTS.