LIVERWORTS 



By Dr. W. W. Bailey. 



A LMOST, if not quite, coincident with that of trailing 

 -^^^ arbutus is the coming of hepatica or Uverwort. In 

 Rhode Island, it is a local wild flower though abundant enough 

 when once found. I have never been able quite to account for 

 its distribution. One naturally turns to soil, to geological 

 formation, or tO' topography for an explanation, yet in some 

 one or more of these factors there is ever a failure to account 

 for the facts. Thus, while in this State it is frequently found 

 in a limestone formation, where I first knew it as a child, in the 

 Hudson highlands, it grew among granite bowlders and peb- 

 bles. Even here, I am inclined to think, it does not confine 

 itself to lime. 



It possesses, along with trailing arbutus, the habit of hid- 

 ing itself amidst fallen leaves, the coy flowers usually appearing 

 well in advance of the foliage. Yet the last year's three-lobed 

 leaves, now bronzy or purplish, generally accompany the blooms 

 and very shortly one detects the new leaves neatly folded, or 

 better, rolled inward, glossy green in their young state and 

 clothed with silky hairs. 



It is one of those plants that depends upon its calyx, rather 

 than upon its corolla for its beauty. Indeed, it presents in this 

 respect some deceptive features. At a varying distance from 

 the white, pink or violet sepals appears three ovate bodies often 

 so near the flower as to resemble a calyx. These are really 

 bracts and are often remote enough to' be recognized as such. 



