dcr
Deceased Member
Registered: February 2004
Posts: 1,317
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The Hepatica, or Liverleaf, is one of the very first wildflowers to bloom in spring around here. Like most spring wildflowers, it is quite small, but often blooms in large numbers in suitable sites. Last year's leaves stay green all winter, conducting photosynthesis on favorable winter days. As soon as the flowers bloom, the leaves die and make way for new leaves. Here we see several dead leaves, colored a reddish-brown (like our liver), which gives them their name - also, they have a 3-lobed shape, also suggesting the liver to ancient folks, as our livers are 3-lobed. For centuries, our remote ancestors used this plant as an herbal remedy for liver diseases - the result of The Doctrine of Signatures, which suggested to them that plants give a sign as to how they should be used by man - in this case, a liver-colored leaf with 3 lobes had to mean a cure for liver ailments.
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