American liverwort (Hepatica nobilis)
Description
Anemone hepatica (common hepatica, liverwort, kidneywort, pennywort) is a herbaceous perennial growing from a rhizome in the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae), native to woodland in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The taxonomy of the genus Anemone and its species is not fully resolved, but the latest phylogenetic studies of many species of Anemone and related genera indicate that Hepatica should be included under Anemone because of similarities both in molecular attributes and other shared morphologies. Anemone hepatica grows 5–15 cm (2–6 in) high. Leaves and flowers emerge directly from the rhizome, not from a stem above ground. The leaves have three lobes and are fleshy and hairless, 7–9 cm (2 3⁄4–3 1⁄2 in) wide and 5–6 cm (2–2 1⁄4 in) long. The upper side is dark green with whitish stripes and the lower side is violet or reddish brown. Leaves emerge during or after flowering and remain green through winter. The flowers are blue, purple, pink, or white and appear in winter or spring. They have five to ten oval showy sepals and three green bracts. Hepatica flowers only produce pollen. In North America, the flowers first attract Lasioglossum sweat bees and small carpenter bees looking in vain for nectar. Then when the stamens begin to release pollen, the bees return to collect and feed on pollen. Mining bees sometimes visit the flowers, but prefer flowers that produce both nectar and pollen.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum: Magnoliophyta
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Ranunculales
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Family: Ranunculaceae
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Genus: Hepatica
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