Hepatica nobilis White Forest

Hepatica nobilis 'White Forest' brings a white colour to this new series of noble liverworts called 'Forest', with various colours. Its small and particularly bright star-shaped flowers are a pure white, highlighted by a small crown of pink stamens. This adorable little woodland plant will liven up all shaded and not-too-dry areas of the garden, from the end of winter. Perennial but wandering, it likes to self-seed wherever it pleases: the plant for which you thought you had chosen the ideal spot may disappear for a reason only it seems to know, and 'move' at its convenience to one of your flowering pots or to an unexpected spot in the garden, forming here and there lovely cushions of trilobed leaves in an olive-green colour, which will be decorative even in winter.

Hepatica nobilis, also known as liverwort or hepatica anemone, is a perennial herbaceous plant of the Ranunculaceae family. It is present in almost all of Europe, as well as in Siberia and northern America. Generally found in mountainous regions, it thrives in woods on limestone and well-drained soil. The varieties of the 'Forest' series are the result of cross-breeding with the subspecies Hepatica nobilis var. japonica, with large flowers of variable colours and often marbled foliage, but less robust than the European hepatica.

The 'White Forest' cultivar slowly develops from a short and fibrous stump, into a 15 cm (6 in) cushion in all directions. This small fluffy plant produces rosettes of tough, petiolate leaves, divided into 3 rounded lobes, with a shiny olive-green colour on the upper side, reddish-brown or purplish on the underside. The foliage usually persists in winter. Flowering takes place in March-April, earlier or later depending on the climate. Each flower, measuring 3-4 cm (1-2 in) in diameter, borne on a petiole just above the foliage, consists of 8 oval petals arranged in a star shape. The heart of the flower, with a spring-green colour, is filled with pink filaments and purple anthers, clearly visible against the whiteness of the corolla.

Plant hepaticas in groups of at least 6 to create a beautiful mass effect, in woodlands, in any slightly shaded areas, in rockeries or along paths or borders, but always in well-drained soil. They are charming when paired with early-flowering bulbs such as botanical crocuses, eranthis, narcissus or Iris reticulata, for example. In a shady rockery or in the gaps of a slightly damp old stone wall, they will also mix well with ivy-leaved toadflax (Cymbalaria muralis), maidenhair spleenwort (Asplenium trichomanes), and rustyback fern (Ceterach officinarum), etc. They also go well with pansies and primroses in flower pots.

Properties:

Hepatica nobilis is also a medicinal plant. Its name, hepatica, comes from the shape of its leaves, with 3 lobes, which can resemble that of the liver, just as the reddish-brown colour of their undersides vaguely resembles that of this organ. According to the so-called "doctrine of signatures", which was authoritative in the Middle Ages, this little plant was reputed to cure liver ailments.