Hepatica, the spring mental health flower of the midwest!

Hanging on tightly to a steep southeastern slope that spills down to the Little Miami River, Sharp-lobed Hepatica blossoms smile up toward the sky, looking for the sun between broken shadows of leafless trees. The breeze is sharp, and the temperature is cool, but these brave little spring wildflowers don't care. They've been waiting all winter, simmering on the back burner, waiting to push forth.

Sharp-lobed Hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba)

...when winter seems like she'll never loosen her grip, these smiling puffs of color let me know the gray will soon be gone and Mama Nature is ready to dance.

These photos go back to early spring--April 3, 2011. I found the plants along the protected hillsides at Fort Ancient. Hepatica is one of the earliest spring bloomers. It comes equipped with a special adaptation that gives it an edge on the spring ephemerals--pre-existing leaves! Hepatica leaves have been there all winter (so it's not a true ephemeral), having emerged last spring after the flowers fruited and the old leaves started to wither and die. Therefore, Hepatica is ready for action as soon as those first few breaths of warm spring air pass by and sunlight filters all the way down through the bare trees to the forest floor -- "action," of course, meaning the leaves are able start photosynthesis right away and manufacture carbohydrates to fuel growth. While some spring ephemerals are just starting to produce leaves, Hepatica is already in full bloom.

Hepatica is no doubt one of the spring "mental health" flowers of the midwest. After enduring nonstop gray days since early November, white, pink and purply-blue blossoms glow on the forest floor and let us know everything will soon be fine--and color will return!

...furry bracts (modified leaves that in this case look like sepals) open to reveal the restorative colors of spring. The colorful "petals" are actually sepals (another type of modified leaf), which I only know because I read it here on the Bedford Audubon Society's Hepatica page, which has a very nice description of the flower.

A Hepatica acutiloba blossom pushes aside the brown leaves of winter to escort spring through the door...

...if you're going to be out and about in the frigid spring weather, wear a wooly sweater!!

Actually, the furry little hairs really do provide insulation for the tender spring flowers...

...well, hello! What are you doing here?

As I was photographing the underside of the Hepatica's bracts, a fly lighted on the blossom and proceeded to dance all around the flower's anthers (which contain pollen). Since not a lot of bees are flying around in early spring, flies are often seen pollinating Hepatica, but Hepatica is capable of self-pollination, so it doesn't rely on insects to get the job done.

...thanks handsome little fly for making sure the spring cycle goes on.

Hepatica

John Burroughs (1837 – 1921)

When April's in her genial mood,


And leafy smells are in the wood,


In sunny nook, by bank or brook,


Behold this lovely sisterhood.

A spirit sleeping in the mould,


And tucked about by leafage old,


Opens an eye blue as the sky,


And trusting takes the sun or cold.

Before a leaf is on the tree,


Or booms the roving bumblebee,


She hears a voice, "Arise, rejoice!"


In furry vestments cometh she.

Before the oven-bird has sung,


Or thrush or chewink found a tongue,


She ventures out and looks about,


And once again the world is young.

Sometimes she stands in white array,


Sometimes as pink as dawning day,


Or every shade of azure made,


And oft with breath as sweet as May.

Sometimes she bideth all alone,


And lifts her face beside a stone,--


A child at play along the way,


When all her happy mates have flown.

Again in bands she beams around,


And brightens all the littered ground,


And holds the gaze in leafless ways--


A concert sweet without a sound.

Like robin's song or bluebird's wing,


Or throats that make the marshes ring,


Her beaming face and winsome grace


Are greetings from the heart of spring.

Note

I talk about Fort Ancient a lot on my blog because I live only 15 minutes away...and it's really cool. I should probably explain what it is every now and then. Fort Ancient is the largest and best preserved prehistoric Native American hilltop enclosure in the United States. For an earlier post with more information and a photo of one of the mounds, click here.