Unique plants from Romania (Part 1)

Blue Jewel Hepatica (Hepatica transsilvanica)
Hepatica is a genus of herbaceous perennial plants belonging to the buttercup family, Ranunculaceae. A native of central and northern Europe, Asia and northeastern North America, Hepatica is sometimes called liverleaf or liverwort. It should not be confused with liverworts, which may also be called "Hepaticae". Some botanists include Hepatica within a wider interpretation of Anemone. Hepatica nobilis is the common Hepatica, but Hepatica transsilvanica can be found only in Romania (in Carpathian Mountains and Transylvania). In Romania, this unique plant is named crucea voinicului (English: the cross of the powerful). Masses of starry deep-blue flowers provide rich decoration in early spring over evergreen, mats of leathery, deep-green, tri-lobed foliage.


Photo from MyNature, © Andrei Lenard