32 WILD FLOWER FAMILIES 
quently it seems safe to say that for most people 
the Hepatica is the first wild flower of the season. 
And it is a very fitting leader for the light-footed 
procession that is to follow through the golden 
days of spring. All winter the buds have waited, 
ROUND-LOBED LIVER-LEAF 
with seeming impatience, the word to start, and as 
soon as the snow upon the southern slopes begins 
to disappear these buds creep upward, the three 
large bracts that cover the blossom open slightly 
and the tender flowers unclose, revealing the 
stamens and pistils within. 
Quite often these earliest blossoms have to 
