140 



HARDY PERENNIALS AND 



increase can exist in no finer form than in big clumps, though 

 when they are to be propagated the roots should be divided 

 before the new leaves are produced, which is during the bloom- 

 ing period. A deeply-dug and well-manured plot should be 

 prepared for them, and their long roots should not be doubled 

 up in the least ; they both need and deserve great care. 

 Flowering period, February to April. 



Hepatica Triloba. 



Syns. ANEMONE TRILOBA and ANEMONE HEPATICA; 



Nat. Ord. E/ANTJNCULACEJE. 



THE well-known common Hepatica, of which there are so many 

 beautiful varieties. It is a hardy perennial, one of the "old- 

 fashioned " flowers of English gardens, and is said by some to 

 be a British species ; anyhow, it was well known and admired in 

 this country 300 years ago. Well-established specimens form 



FIG. 50. HEPATICA TRILOBA. 

 (One-third natural size.) 



neat tufts of three-lobed leaves on long stems, which are not 

 evergreen in this climate, though the Hepaticas are known to 

 be so in North America, one of their most extensive habitats. 

 Here, under cultivation, they produce much finer flowers, and 

 more of them. The cut (Fig. 50), however, shows the foliage 

 in more perfect form than it is commonly seen to be in this 

 climate during the period of bloom, when the old is usually 



