Deno’s GardenMy Garden

Hepatica nobilis

Liverleaf · Hepatica

Family RanunculaceaeGenus Hepatica

Two flowers side by side, one violet-blue and one magenta, each with a ring of white stamens around a pale green center.
FlowerIvar LeidusCC BY-SA 4.0

About the plant

What it is and where it grows — not part of any germination protocol.

Habit
perennialPlants of the World Online
Habit
Perennial, Forb/herbPLANTS Database
Flower
Blue, purple, pink, whiteWikipedia
Native range
Albania, Austria, Baltic States, Belarus, Bulgaria, Central European Russia and elsewhereGBIF Backbone Taxonomy

Toxicity is noted only where a source states it. No note here is not a finding of safety.

Sources: Plants of the World Online — Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; PLANTS Database — USDA NRCS; Wikipedia — Wikipedia contributors; GBIF Backbone Taxonomy — Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Worth knowing

  • The flowers give pollen but no nectar. In North America sweat bees first visit looking for nectar in vain, then come back to collect pollen once the stamens release it. Wikipedia: Anemone hepatica

Protocol

DerivedN. C. Deno, 1993

Difficulty High Rated by us, not by the source.

  1. Cold moist stratification

    Temperature: 40°F 4°C

Germination happens during step 1, in 56 days.

29% germination in 56 days.

Seed Germination Theory and Practice, 2nd ed. — N. C. Deno, 1993 · Ch. 20, Hepatica p. 152Public domain
Show the original text
Hepatica (Ranunculaceae). The three species germ. strictly at 40 and best if preceded by a 3 m cycle at 70. DS was fatal. Only the radicle develops at 40, and a major problem was getting the cotyledons to develop on shifting to 70. It is likely that gradually increasing the T from 40 to 70 would have given much better results. H. nobilis seeds were received from Sweden in a moist paper towel so that they had already been subjected to at least a month moist at 70. Seeds kept an additional 3 m at 70 all rotted. Seeds placed in 40 when received germ. 40(29% in 8th w).
Seed Germination Theory and Practice, 2nd ed., Ch. 20, Hepatica p. 152. Quoted exactly. Every value on this card comes from this record, except the difficulty rating, which is ours; the step names come from a fixed list.

How each step is done, in Deno’s words, and what Verified and Derived mean.

Germination trials

Readers’ own records of sowing this species, published after review. Share your trial · All trials

Add to My Garden

View species page