W_Hepatica, Sharp-Lobed

Friends of Sleeping Bear Dunes

Sharp-Lobed Hepatica Hepatica acutiloba
Family	Buttercup (Ranunculaceae)
Bloom	Early Spring
Habitat	Dry, shade, edges of deciduous woods
Status	Native
Cycle	Perennial
Height	4-6"
Flower	Each flower is on a single hairy stalk but flowers tend to appear in bunches in the very early spring. This is one of the first wildflowers to bloom. Flowers are white but may also be light pink or blue. Flowers are open on sunny afternoons and evenings, but closed on drooping stalks in the morning or in rain. Flowers have 3 green brackets.
Leaf	Leaves are distinctive with three sharply pointed lobes rising from a thin hairy stalk.
Notes	This flower retains its leaves all winter and quickly sends up flowers in the spring. The leaves from the previous year are brown or dark purple. Eventually, the new leaves appear and the flowers disappear. The stems of the pollinated flowers lengthen and droop toward the ground, where ants collect and disperse the seeds.

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