Wildflowers Will Begin Blooming Soon One of the most weather-resistant, longest-blooming spring wildflowers, the hepatica, will soon decorate many woodlands throughout Wisconsin. I especially like wildflowers that, within a range of a mile or less, are known to have a blossoming period as long as six weeks. A wildflower that in some years may appear in flower from late March well into the middle of May also appears to defy cold, rainy, even snowy April days. It’s the Hepatica, a hardy native that is at its best on sunny days. The sequence of wildflower blossoming is bound to differ slightly from woods to woods, county to county, and will be affected by elevations of the growing site and nearness to cold "refrigerative" bodies of water. Its scientific 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 Hepatica when they mention Mayflowers. Actually, if the month of its first heavy blooming were important in its naming, they could realistically be called Aprilflowers. Some of my fondest childhood memories center around spring picnics with my parents, older brothers, Ivan and Leo, and youngest brother, Richard to what we called the "Toonerville Trolley Woods," nicknamed thus because of its humorous undulating nature. The woods was located along what is now called Rock Ledge Road east of Co. Highway "C" and south of the village of Casco, Wisconsin. My Dad’s home farm was several miles to the southeast and he knew the woods well, dating back to his boyhood days. Very likely I learned the name, Hepatica, in that very woods from my Mother who knew the wildflowers well. "Gray’s Manual of Botany" lists two species. Acutiloba (a-cue-ti-LOW-ba), having pointed leaf lobes and bracts, tends to be more western in the Midwest and favors dry to medium woods with limy soil. This species bears staminate (male) flowers on one plant and pistillate (female) on another. This is the only species of Hepatica growing by the hundreds in our woods. The other species, americana, (a-mare-i-CAY-na), bears flowers of both sexes above the roots of each plant. 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 leaf-mold. In fact both species have been found existing very well in the same woods. Another of its names, Liverleaf, is well chosen because its genus name, Hepatica, is related to the word liver. Hepatica (Latin) pertains to liver as does the Greek name, hepar. Examine a leaf and you will see its liver shape. Last year’s leaves, fleshy, leathery, maroon to rusty-olive, lie matted on the forest floor now. Hopefully soon the new flowers will unfold to be followed by new leaves, fuzzy and heart-shaped at the base. The blossoms will have withered by the time the new leaves have emerged. In other words, you will be enjoying this year’s Hepatica blossoms along with last year’s leaves, or at least with what’s left of them. The range of these flowers is extensive stretching from northern Florida and Alabama north to Nova Scotia and Manitoba, and west into Minnesota. They also inhabit Alaska and Europe. We were delighted to see and observe them along the absolutely splendid Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Trail at the Callaway Gardens in western Georgia last month. Like usual, Charlotte and I enjoy our woods to the hilt every year on Mayday. A special effort is made to look for Hepaticas of different colors. Based upon past experiences, and from an unusually early blossoming date of March 23 one year, they will range from nearly pure white to pastel shades off blue, purple and pink. The deep blues capture our fancy while the rich pinks are undoubtedly the rarest in our woods. Believe it or not, Hepaticas have no petals but rather sport showy sepals that are petal-like. Examining a flowering plant in more detail, you will discover three tiny unlobed leaves, often mistaken for sepals, immediately below the "technically real" colorful sepals. You will also find that a short flower stalk, or peduncle, separates these leaves from the flower. 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. It includes, for example, over 30 species of Buttercups, Meadow-Rue, Anemone, Clematis (pronounced (CLEM-a-tis), Delphinium, Marsh Marigold, Columbine and Baneberry. Here’s hoping that the early-blooming Hepaticas add great joy to your long-awaited spring wildflower season! This column appeared in the Door County Advocate on 04/18/2003. © Copyright 2003 Roy Lukes. All rights reserved.