Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
Specific Families and Genera => Hepatica => Topic started by: Mark W. Simonis on May 29, 2022, 03:26:23 PM
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Hello! I have enjoyed your forum on Hepatica for a few years now and thank you for letting me join in! Thought that you would like to see some of the wild Hepatica acutiloba found here. Hepatica americana also grows wild here but isn't as common and in my opinion not as variable. Let me start with maiden forms of Hepatica acutiloba. I read where it is rare for this species. Yes, I have found it at only two sites. Here are some pictures of a few. More pictures to follow of other forms and colors.
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Mark, very interesting Hepatica nobilis var. acuta. Thanks for showing. I look forward to see others.
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Welcome Mark W.S., and thanks for your photos of these fine plants in the USA - we look forward to seeing more!
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Very, very nice, it's a pity that it won't work out with an exchange....
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All, Thank you for your kind words. Here is some of what I think were my best Hepatica nobilis var acuta finds from 2021. These were all in the wilds here. Mark
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Thanks for sharing these beautiful forms, Mark!
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Thanks! And how about a Hepatica nobilis var. acuta f. plena? It is the same plant in each picture but at different stages of flower development. This was also in the wilds here.
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Mark, that is a real treasure! Congratulations on your foundling
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Thanks! Hope that this will help with sorting out Hepatica nobilis var acuta. Here are three more. The one with the petaloid stamens/anthers is the only one of these I have ever spotted. All three were found in the wilds here.
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Oops! Here is the second one.
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And the third which is the petaloid.
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And how about an entire swarm of over thirty fully double Hepatica nobilis var acuta f plena. All at one site in the wilds. They are quite variable in colors and sub forms. Attached find five of these.
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I would be neglect if I didn't point out a "problem" that I am still trying to determine the extent of and just what the ultimate impact will be to out local populations of Hepatica. Do you have this at your locations? If so how serious a problem is it?
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Totally crazy, I think I have to rebook my holiday!
Last picture: Visually, the infestation is similar to that of Anemone ranunculoides and nemerosa with Ochropsora ariae or Tranzschelia fusca. I don't know more about it, I don't see the infestation as absolutely critical, but I'm absolutely no expert.
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And how about an entire swarm of over thirty fully double Hepatica nobilis var acuta f plena. All at one site in the wilds. They are quite variable in colors and sub forms. Attached find five of these.
Mark, excellent Hepatica's! Until now I had never heard of a place with so much double Hepatica acutiloba. You were very lucky, probably not many people will know that place and maybe a good thing. It is a paradise that must be cherished!
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We are taking proactive measures to protect and sustain this swarm of Hepatica nobilis var acuta f plena. Thank you for the encouragement!
One more picture(s) of my favorites over the last few years.
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Wonderful finds! Thank you for showing them. :)
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Leena, Thanks You!
I found this very small plant without flowers this year. I think it is a Hepatica nobilis var acuta, but I am not sure? What do you think?
I am already looking forward to next year!
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Interessant!
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We are taking proactive measures to protect and sustain this swarm of Hepatica nobilis var acuta f plena. Thank you for the encouragement!
One more picture(s) of my favorites over the last few years.
Fantastic swarm of Hepatica acutiloba Mark!!!
Thanks for showing. It is good to know that such place exists and that all sort of variations are also possible for the American Hepaticas.
They are just not that frequent like in H. japonica and nobilis.
In my Ontario region, there are multipetal forms of H. acutiloba, not in large numbers and mainly white and pink or combinations, similar with your plants. But I never found doubles or blue multipetals.
The last plant with foliage is also super interesting. A Hepatica acutiloba fo. diversiloba but with more than 5-7 lobes, which is usual.
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Thank you, Gabriela, for your reply and confirmation of that unusual Hepatica! I plan to spend more time looking at the foliage in the years to come. Yes, I have stepped up my American Hepatica searches in recent years thinking that there has to be more diversity out there. I found this to be true with other species as well. I think the range of the American Hepatica is so vast and unexplored that there will be more significant discoveries to be made as long as folks take the time to look. Mark
Here are some more blues and one nice pink.
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Hello! I did get back out here this fall in northcentral Pennsylvania to look at some Hepatica nobilis var acuta leaves. Mark
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Hello! I did get back out here this fall in northcentral Pennsylvania to look at some Hepatica nobilis var acuta leaves. Mark
Mark, the leaves are very different, thanks for showing them!
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They are very interesting leaf shapes! Can you tell if flowers are the same in different kinds of leafs?
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Hello! This is the first that I have looked much at leaf lobes, but I will be going back to see if I can catch the flowers. Also, will be spending more time in the upcoming year looking at the leaves. Mark
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Hello! I did get back out here this fall in northcentral Pennsylvania to look at some Hepatica nobilis var acuta leaves. Mark
Very nice foliage of H. acutiloba Mark. Specimens with 5 lobes or 7 are relatively rare; but I never seen other types.
In my experience the flowers in specimens with more unusual leaves are usually smaller and not very particularly attractive, but of course exceptions are possible.
All 5-7 lobes H. acutiloba I've seen here in Ontario were with small, white flowers.
Sorry I posted an image in the wrong thread.
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Gabriela, In your beautiful picture the fall colors really highlight the H americana! Found a H acutiloba actually flowering a couple of days ago. And a couple of days ago when I couldn't sleep rather than counting sheep, I counted Hepatica in iNaturalist. Out of 14,505 entries of H acutiloba I found only two with fully double flowers, one in Ontario near Hekkla and the other one in Ohio, USA. As expected of the 12,206 H americana entries there wasn't any with fully double flowers. Mark
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Gabriela, In your beautiful picture the fall colors really highlight the H americana! Found a H acutiloba actually flowering a couple of days ago. And a couple of days ago when I couldn't sleep rather than counting sheep, I counted Hepatica in iNaturalist. Out of 14,505 entries of H acutiloba I found only two with fully double flowers, one in Ontario near Hekkla and the other one in Ohio, USA. As expected of the 12,206 H americana entries there wasn't any with fully double flowers. Mark
Thank you Mark.
Some years it also happened here to see a flower or two in Hepatica. This year has been extremely dry though, so they probably were busy just with surviving.
I am not particularly interested in double flowered Hepatica. I said it here in the forum before, I like them best in their simple, true form; color variants and leaf forms are welcomed; also the multipetal forms.
The fully double flowers of Hepatica don't really tell much to me; of course just a personal preference.
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Gabriela, I am somewhat like you in regard to your preferences. And then there is the difficulty in propagation of doubles. This old guy just isn't patient enough for that. Ha! Ha! Attached find a picture of another plant with leaf variation. Mark
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Hello all! Went back out here yesterday in northcentral Pennsylvania, USA to look at Hepatica nobilis var acuta leaf lobes. It appears that four lobes are very common and even five lobes aren't that rare. But more than five is very rare. I have attached a picture of three of the ones with more than five lobes that I have found here this year in the wilds. Dates found are on each picture. Also noticed that all three of these may be f minima. Yes, that is my thumb in two of the pictures to give some scale. Now all I have to do next spring is relocate these to match up their flowers with their leaves. Mark
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Hello all! Went back out here yesterday in northcentral Pennsylvania, USA to look at Hepatica nobilis var acuta leaf lobes. It appears that four lobes are very common and even five lobes aren't that rare. But more than five is very rare. I have attached a picture of three of the ones with more than five lobes that I have found here this year in the wilds. Dates found are on each picture. Also noticed that all three of these may be f minima. Yes, that is my thumb in two of the pictures to give some scale. Now all I have to do next spring is relocate these to match up their flowers with their leaves. Mark
Very interesting to follow! Thank you Mark.
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There is a wild patch not far from methat has a few acres with Hepatical acutiloba spread about. None have any variation in leaf form to speak of at all, except these several that are all near each other. They seem very similar to your multilobed types, Mark, but with some notable exceptions: they all have much longer pedicels that stay upright, and the leaf blades are always peaked in color. Additionally, I've been following them for about 6 years and none of them ever bloom. It's not that they are too young, as a couple always have at least six leaves each.
So it's been in the back of my mind that these are virused plants, and the virus is causing the unusual leaf characteristics and lack of flowers. What do you all think? Obviously, Mark's leaves have healthy color, but I wonder how they are flowering?
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Rick, Your plants may be infected with a native leaf rust. See the attached pictures. I have seen this here at almost all locations of Hepatica nobilis var. acuta. Still trying to figure out just how detrimental it is. Anecdotally I have observed that where there appears to be more of these infected plants the overall population looks somewhat diminished with smaller plants and fewer flowers. May be nature's way of keeping the Hepatica populations in check but who wants that (Ha! Ha!)? Mark
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Rick, Here is some information and more pictures on the Hepatica/Cherry Rust. Mark
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I have to stop looking at wild Hepatica for the rest of the year as I keep adding sites/plants where I will have to go back to check flowering in the spring (Ha! Ha!). Found a site here yesterday in northcentral Pennsylvania, USA with a concentration of Hepatica nobilis var acuta f diversiloba! Mark
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I have to stop looking at wild Hepatica for the rest of the year as I keep adding sites/plants where I will have to go back to check flowering in the spring (Ha! Ha!). Found a site here yesterday in northcentral Pennsylvania, USA with a concentration of Hepatica nobilis var acuta f diversiloba! Mark
Have you enough pages in your diary, Mark?!!
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Maggi, I do take a lot of notes but I don't know if I would call it a diary. Mark
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Mark, I did notice that you had mentioned the rust before. Thanks for the additional info. Initially, I didn't think that was it because the color seemed different and I never saw any indication of a any non-viruslike disease. But with this extra info, everything seems to fit, and it is very possible that I am never around when the pustules form.
The rust does seem to affect the same plants in the same area, but I've never actually marked individual plants. Being a rust, it would seem quite probable that an alternate host is right there. I am thinking our wild plums (Prunus americana) likely has a remnant presence there from when the forested area was more open.
The investigation will continue next year. Thanks!
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Rick, I had to look closer since at the early stage it is hard to spot on the upper surface of the leaves. It is much more obvious on the undersides. See attachment from here this year. Mark
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Most of the times, I am usually out there very very early in the season, as the reason I go is to witness the Snow trilliums blooming. I am thinking it is too early for the rust to develop a visual presence, or I could have just missed it since I would not have purposely inspected hepatica leaf undersides. The one photo I shared does look suspicious.
So since there aren't that many that are infected each year, I wonder if I could break the life cycle of the disease (or at least reduce it's presence) long term, by removing the infected leaves. There is also Anemone quincefolia and Thalictrum thalictroides that grow there, but I've never noticed any "weirdness" on them. Or likewise, if I found the alternate host.....
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Very nice leaf forms of Hepatica acutiloba Mark. Especially the third one with many lobes is very unusual.
Regarding the size, you may want to consider that maybe some are young plants, 2-3 years old. I noticed among my seedlings of H. acutiloba (and H. americana) that the leaves are much smaller than in their mother plants.
It's going to be interesting to see how their flowers are looking next spring. I guess we can already start thinking at the spring at this point :D
Too bad that there is the rust infection around, didn't see any plants with such symptoms in the areas where I usually hike.
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Gabriela and Rick, The mutated leaves may carry over from the previous year on rust infected plants. I will be checking this into the future. And just this year I started removing the obviously infected plants at one site to see if it is controllable. Will see. Mark
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Merry Christmas! Looking at some pictures from here in northcentral Pennsylvania, USA and turned some interesting Hepatica nobilis var. acuta (or Hepatica americana var. acuta, Massey 2022). Five of these with more than the usual three flower bracts and two with two flowers and interesting flower bracts. Mark