Door to Nature

There is a wildflower, the Hepatica, which appears to defy cold, rainy, even snowy April days; although this hardy native is always at its best on sunny days.

Its genus and best common name are the same, Hepatica. Even though Gray’s Manual of Botany refers only to the Trailing Arbutus as Mayflower, many people in this region mean Hepaticas when they speak about Mayflowers. Actually, if the month of its first heavy blooming were important in its naming, a more appropriate name would be Aprilflowers.

The sequence of wildflower blossoming is bound to differ slightly from woods to woods, county to county, elevations of the growing site and nearness to cold “refrigerative” bodies of water including Green Bay and Lake Michigan. In general, one can assume that spring advances northward about 125 miles per week. A blossoming calendar faithfully kept from year to year (phenological record) can vary considerably.

A blue Hepatica.

Favorite spring ephemerals (short-lived to coincide with the brief spell of sun-drenched soil before the dense tree-leaf canopy forms) include Hepatica, Bloodroot, Trout Lily, Dutchman’s Breeches, Squirrel Corn, Spring Beauty, Marsh Marigold, Wood Anemone, Bellwort, Toothwort, Jack-in-the-pulpit, Large-flowered Trillium, Meadow-rue, Canada Mayflower, various violets, Mayapple, Bishop’s Cap and Solomon’s Seal.

Very likely I learned the name Hepatica from my mother who knew the wildflowers well, and I strongly suspect that I learned it in the “Toonerville Trolley Woods” near my dad’s home farm, our favorite springtime site for picnicking and enjoying the wildflowers. Gray’s Manual lists two species, Acutiloba, having pointed leaf lobes and bracts, tends to be more western and favors dry to medium woods with limy soil. This species bears staminate flowers on one plant and pistillate on another. This is the only species of this flower we find in our woods.

The other species, Americana (a-mare-i-CAY-na), bears flowers of both sexes above the roots. They have rounded leaf lobes and bracts and are more likely to grow in acid soil. However, both do nicely on partially shaded slopes and in rocky terrain where the woods are rich in leafmold. In fact, both species have been found existing very well in the same habitat.

Last year’s leaves – fleshy, leathery, maroon to rusty-olive – lie matted on the forest floor as the new flowers unfold. You should be able to find them easily now. New leaves, fuzzy and heart-shaped at the base, make their appearance in several weeks as the long-lasting flowers wither.

People of many years ago religiously believed in that ancient “Doctrine of Signatures.” Those portions of plants resembling some organ of the body, for example, would prove to be beneficial in curing ailments of that organ. Naturally the leaves of Hepaticas, similar to the general shape of a liver, were thought to be an antidote for liver complications – which in reality they most certainly were not!

A three-parted Hepatica leaf.

The range of these flowers is extensive, stretching from northern Florida and Alabama to Nova Scotia and Manitoba, and west into Minnesota. They also inhabit Alaska and Europe. A different species, H. angulosa, having large white, blue or reddish flowers, is native to Hungary. God must love the Hepaticas, he made so many of them!

The blossoms of these vernal favorites close at night, then open again the next sunny or bright day. Densely overcast days will find them tightly shut and their showy blossoms unavailable. Study several clumps of them daily and try to determine how many days one flower remains open. Their odor is faint and sweet, but some tend to lack fragrance entirely. There are those wildflower devotees who claim that the sweetest-scented Hepatica clusters this year will be just as sweet next year.

Hepaticas are worthy of more praise and study. In fact its entire family, the Crowfoot family (alluding to the leaf shape), is one of unusual beauty and includes over 30 species of buttercups plus Meadow-rue, Anemone, Clematis (pronounced CLEM-a-tis), Delphinium, Marsh Marigold, Columbine and Baneberry.

I’ve always been most impressed with people who maintain constant ties with the soil and plants 12 months of the year. Come spring, before their outdoor gardening begins, they will bring twigs of wild fruit trees, Balsam Poplar, Moosewood, Canada Buffaloberry, or Tamarack indoors to force them into leafing out or blossoming. Their constant bond with wild plants will extend well into fall with a few twigs of Witch hazel nursed along indoors to their delicate yellow blossoming stage.

I would be a very happy man if all elementary and secondary curricula, public and private included, would make it mandatory for every student during every year of their schooling to learn something about plants, wildflowers, garden vegetables and flowers, the soil and the wonderful art of growing, caring for and enjoying the flowering world. I was fortunate as a youngster during World War II to be a part of the very successful Victory Gardening movement. Our parents had my three brothers and me very involved with our huge vegetable garden in Kewaunee, and I can clearly recall growing a large crop of large Zucchini squashes, the period in history when they were introduced to American gardens.

Even though its music is soft and delicate, the message of this wildflower parade, about to begin, comes through loudly and clearly. The tiny size of these spring ephemerals marches in step with towering enjoyment for those who wish to find it. Once found, never let it go. Do everything in your power to preserve forever this wild garden of unmatched beauty.