Hepatica nobilis

Hepatica Nobilis, also known as Liverwort or Noble Liverwort, is a small wild unergrowrth plant whose joyful royal-blue flowering often heralds the arrival of spring. Perennial but wandering, it likes to self-seed wherever it pleases: the plant for which you thought you had chosen the ideal spot can disappear for a reason that only it seems to know, and 'move' at its convenience into one of your flower pots or to an unexpected place in the garden, forming pretty cushions of olive-green trilobed leaves, decorative even in winter.

Hepatica nobilis 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 areas, it thrives in woods, on limestone and well-drained soil. It is a very robust, hardy and undemanding plant.

Liverwort develops slowly from a short and fibrous stump, forming a cushion of about 15 cm (6 in) in all directions. This small fluffy plant produces rosettes of tough, petiolate leaves, divided into 3 rounded lobes, olive-green on the upper side, reddish-brown or purplish on the underside. The foliage generally persists in winter, but renews itself after flowering. Flowering takes place in March-April, earlier or later depending on the climate. Each flower, 2.5 cm (1 in) in diameter, carried by a petiole just above the foliage, is composed of 6 oval petals arranged in a star shape around a white stamen heart. Their colour varies from violet-blue to dark blue depending on the nature of the soil, illuminating slightly shaded areas.

Plant liverworts in groups of at least 6 to create a beautiful mass effect, in the undergrowth, in any slightly shaded areas, in rockeries or along paths or borders, but always in well-drained soil. They are charming when planted alongside early-flowering bulbs such as botanical crocuses, eranthis, narcissus or Iris reticulata, for example.

Properties:

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