I love wildflowers. Every spring I get to know them a little bit more. The very first flowers of our season are just starting to rise from the ground in the forest. Here are photographs I have taken this week of the Hepatica flower. The first is titled "At Last" and can be found in my photography shop www.jenniferaitchison.etsy.com
In case you were wondering ...
Hepatica - genus of spring wildflowers of buttercup family Ranunculaceae; leaves three-lobed (in shape of human liver) and remain green all winter; delicate blue, purple, pink, or white flowers on short, hairy stems; grow to 3 in. tall; native to woods of eastern North America; also grown in Europe and Asia. Hepatica is named from its leaves, which, like the human liver (Greek hepar), have three lobes. It was once used as a medicinal herb. Owing to the doctrine of signatures, the plant was thought an effective treatment for liver disorders. Although poisonous in large doses, the leaves and flowers may be used as an astringent, demulcent for slow-healing injuries and as a diuretic.
