Index of Species Information
SPECIES: Hepatica nobilis var. acuta
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| Sharplobe hepatica. Image by Jennifer Anderson, hosted by the USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database. |
Introductory
SPECIES: Hepatica nobilis var. acuta
AUTHORSHIP AND CITATION:
Pavek, Diane S. 1992. Hepatica nobilis var. acuta. In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station,
Fire Sciences Laboratory (Producer). Available:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/database/feis/plants/forb/hepnoba/all.html [].
Revisions:
On 16 May 2016, the scientific name of this taxon was changed in FEIS
from: Hepatica acutiloba
to: Hepatica nobilis var. acuta. Images were also added.
ABBREVIATION:
HEPNOBA
SYNONYMS:
Hepatica acutiloba DC. [6,16,21]
Hepatica acutiloba forma acutiloba R. Hoffm.
Hepatica acutiloba f. diversiloba Raymond
Hepatica acutiloba f. albiflora R. Hoffm.
Hepatica acutiloba f. rosea R. Hoffm.
Hepatica acutiloba f. plena Fern. [6]
NRCS PLANT CODE:
HENOA
COMMON NAMES:
sharplobe hepatica
sharp-lobed liverleaf
TAXONOMY:
The scientific name of sharplobe hepatica is Hepatica nobilis
Schreb. var. acuta. (Pursh) Steyerm. [19,21].
LIFE FORM:
Forb
FEDERAL LEGAL STATUS:
No special status
OTHER STATUS:
NO-ENTRY
DISTRIBUTION AND OCCURRENCE
SPECIES: Hepatica nobilis var. acuta
GENERAL DISTRIBUTION:
Sharplobe hepatica is native to the Northeast and Southeast.
It is found in most states east of the Mississippi River.
Extending from Ontario, Quebec, and Maine [8,15,18], it proceeds
south through the eastern United States to Missouri, Georgia, and
Alabama [9,13,16].
 |
| Distribution of sharplobe hepatica. Map courtesy of USDA, NRCS. 2018. The PLANTS Database.
National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC [2018, May 16] [21]. |
ECOSYSTEMS:
FRES13 Loblolly - shortleaf pine
FRES14 Oak - pine
FRES15 Oak - hickory
FRES16 Oak - gum - cypress
FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood
FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
STATES:
AL CT GA ID IL IA KY ME MA MI
MN NH NJ NY NC OH PA RI SC TN
VT VA WV WI ON PQ
BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS:
None
KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS:
K099 Maple - basswood forest
K102 Beech - maple forest
K103 Mixed mesophytic forest
K106 Northern hardwoods
K107 Northern hardwoods - fir forest
SAF COVER TYPES:
16 Aspen
24 Hemlock - yellow birch
25 Sugar maple - beech
26 Sugar maple - basswood
27 Sugar maple
28 Black cherry - maple
60 Beech - sugar maple
108 Red maple
109 Hawthorn
SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES:
801 Savanna
805 Riparian
HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES:
Sharplobe hepatica is listed as a dominant or indicator species in this
vegeation classification:
Field guide to forest habitat types of northern Wisconsin [10].
MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
SPECIES: Hepatica nobilis var. acuta
IMPORTANCE TO LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE:
NO-ENTRY
PALATABILITY:
NO-ENTRY
NUTRITIONAL VALUE:
No food value is listed for sharplobe hepatica. A lipid-rich eliasome
that attracts ants and rodent herbivores is attached to seeds [17].
COVER VALUE:
NO-ENTRY
VALUE FOR REHABILITATION OF DISTURBED SITES:
Projects using sharplobe hepatica have not been found in the
literature. However, as a rhizomatous perennial, it could be used as a
soil stabilizer in shaded habitats.
OTHER USES AND VALUES:
NO-ENTRY
OTHER MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:
NO-ENTRY
BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Hepatica nobilis var. acuta
GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
Sharplobe hepatica is a small rhizomatous perennial, 2 to 7
inches (5-18 cm) tall [18]. Three leaves arise from the plant base.
Leaves are simple but deeply lobed. The three leaves are longer than
they are wide, with acutely pointed lobe tips and indented (cordate)
bases [6,15,18]. Long, hairy flowerstalks have a single small (0.05-0.1
inch [12-25 mm]) flower. Achenes are very hairy.
RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM:
Hemicryptophyte
Geophyte
REGENERATION PROCESSES:
Sharplobe hepatica sprouts from short rhizomes, producing small
colonies [15,18].
Mature achenes form aggregates. Seeds are carried away from the parent
plant by ants and rodents. Ant dispersal is most successful for
establishment in young sparse populations. Seedling establishment is
low in older dense populations of sharplobe hepatica [17].
Seeds have epicotyl dormancy which requires a warm stratification [1].
This is followed by a cold stratification of 2 to 3 months before
cotyledons emerge [1].
SITE CHARACTERISTICS:
Sharplobe hepatica is found on topography that varies from gently
rolling hills to bluffs and outcroppings [3]. It occurs on soils of low
fertility and low moisture-holding capacity (e.g. sandy loam) to
calcareous moist upland woods [3,8]. Sharplobe hepatica is often
found on north-facing wooded slopes [8].
Species associated with sharplobe hepatica are those found in upland
mesic deciduous forests. Sugar maple (Acer saccharum) is often dominant
with red elm (Ulmus rubra) and basswood (Tilia americana) [20]. Of the
numerous herbaceous species, the dominant plants are eastern
springbeauty (Claytonia virginica), catchweed bedstraw (Galium aparine),
recurved wakerobin (Trillium recurvatum), common mayapple (Podophyllum
pedatum), and black snakeroot (Sanicula gregaria) [20].
SUCCESSIONAL STATUS:
Sharplobe hepatica occurs in late-intermediate to early climax forests
of sugar maple (Acer saccharum), basswood (Tilia americana), yellow
birch (Betula alleghaniensis), and white ash (Fraxinus americana)
[4,20]. Daubenmire [4] also reported sharplobe hepatica present in
subclimax associations of red oak (Quercus rubra), white oak (Quercus
alba), and aspen (Populus tremuloides). Although an early vernal
species, it is shade tolerant. It occurs infrequently; Brundrett and
Kendrick [3] reported 0.22 percent importance value for sharplobe
hepatica in Ontario forests.
SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT:
Thick leaves are kept through the winter on this clonal perennial,
allowing photosynthesis to begin quickly in the spring before the canopy
closes [3]. With this physiological jump-start, sharplobe hepatica
flowers from February to June throughout its range [6,8,9,13,16,18].
After flowering, the overwintering leaves become senescent, and new
leaves are produced. The new leaves are more shade tolerant and,
therefore, more efficient at light harvesting [3]. Seeds mature
approximately 1 month after flowering [17]. Sharplobe hepatica
remains green when all other herbs have senesced in the fall.
FIRE ECOLOGY
SPECIES: Hepatica nobilis var. acuta
FIRE ECOLOGY OR ADAPTATIONS:
Occurring in mixed mesophytic forest, sharplobe hepatica has evolved
with fire. The degree of resistance sharplobe hepatica has to fire
depends upon the protection its caudex and rhizomes receive from soil
cover.
FIRE REGIMES:
Find fire regime information for the plant communities in which this
species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under
"Find Fire Regimes".
POSTFIRE REGENERATION STRATEGY:
Rhizomatous herb, rhizome in soil
Secondary colonizer - off-site seed
FIRE EFFECTS
SPECIES: Hepatica nobilis var. acuta
IMMEDIATE FIRE EFFECT ON PLANT:
Fire effects have not been studied on sharplobe hepatica. It is
probably top-killed by fire. Rhizomes probably would survive.
Seedlings most likely would be killed. If the lipid sack (eliasome)
attached to the seed burns, the seed probably dies.
PLANT RESPONSE TO FIRE:
Fire severity and rooting depth of caudex and rhizomes control the
recovery of sharplobe hepatica. Surviving rhizomes probably sprout
and produce leaves postfire. Sharplobe hepatica grows vigorously in
sparsely vegetated areas with freed nutrients (e.g., ant hills high in
nitrogen and phosphorus) [17]. It probably will flower and produce seed
in the first postfire year. Long-term postfire recovery should be
fairly successful. Sharplobe hepatica reproduces vegetatively by
short rhizomes, ensuring on-site colony growth. Sexual reproduction
results in seeds that are readily transported by ants and rodents, which
ensures wide areas of dispersal [17].
FIRE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS:
NO-ENTRY
REFERENCES
SPECIES: Hepatica nobilis var. acuta
REFERENCES:
1. Baskin, Jerry M.; Baskin, Carol C. 1985. Epicotyl dormancy in seeds of
Cimicifuga racemosa and Hepatica acutiloba. Bulletin of the Torrey
Botanical Club. 112(3): 253-257. [18960]
2. Bernard, Stephen R.; Brown, Kenneth F. 1977. Distribution of mammals,
reptiles, and amphibians by BLM physiographic regions and A.W. Kuchler's
associations for the eleven western states. Tech. Note 301. Denver, CO:
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. 169 p.
[434]
3. Brundrett, Mark C.; Kendrick, Bryce. 1988. The mycorrhizal status, root
anatomy, and phenology of plants in a sugar maple forest. Canadian
Journal of Botany. 66(6): 1153-1173. [14483]
4. Daubenmire, Rexford F. 1936. The "big woods" of Minnesota: its
structure, and relation to climate, fire, and soils. Ecological
Monographs. 6(2): 233-268. [2697]
5. Eyre, F. H., ed. 1980. Forest cover types of the United States and
Canada. Washington, DC: Society of American Foresters. 148 p. [905]
6. Fernald, Merritt Lyndon. 1950. Gray's manual of botany. [Corrections
supplied by R. C. Rollins]. Portland, OR: Dioscorides Press. 1632 p.
(Dudley, Theodore R., gen. ed.; Biosystematics, Floristic & Phylogeny
Series; vol. 2). [14935]
7. Garrison, George A.; Bjugstad, Ardell J.; Duncan, Don A.; [and others].
1977. Vegetation and environmental features of forest and range
ecosystems. Agric. Handb. 475. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service. 68 p. [998]
8. Gleason, Henry A. 1952. Illustrated flora of the northeastern United
States and adjacent Canada. Vol. 2. Choripetalous Dicotyledoneae.
Lancaster, PA: Lancaster Press, Inc. 655 p. [18962]
9. Jones, G. N.; Fuller, G. D. 1955. Vascular plants of Illinois. Urbana,
IL: University of Illinois Press. 593 p. [18964]
10. Kotar, John; Kovach, Joseph A.; Locey, Craig T. 1988. Field guide to
forest habitat types of northern Wisconsin. Madison, WI: University of
Wisconsin, Department of Forestry; Wisconsin Department of Natural
Resources. 217 p. [11510]
11. Kuchler, A. W. 1964. Manual to accompany the map of potential vegetation
of the conterminous United States. Special Publication No. 36. New York:
American Geographical Society. 77 p. [1384]
12. Stickney, Peter F. 1989. Seral origin of species originating in northern
Rocky Mountain forests. Unpublished draft on file at: U.S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, Intermountain Research Station, Fire
Sciences Laboratory, Missoula, MT; RWU 4403 files. 7 p. [20090]
13. Radford, Albert E.; Ahles, Harry E.; Bell, C. Ritchie. 1968. Manual of
the vascular flora of the Carolinas. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of
North Carolina Press. 1183 p. [7606]
14. Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The life forms of plants and statistical plant
geography. Oxford: Clarendon Press. 632 p. [2843]
15. Scoggan, H. J. 1978. The flora of Canada. Ottawa, Canada: National
Museums of Canada. (4 volumes). [18143]
16. Seymour, Frank Conkling. 1982. The flora of New England. 2d ed.
Phytologia Memoirs 5. Plainfield, NJ: Harold N. Moldenke and Alma L.
Moldenke. 611 p. [7604]
17. Smith, Brent H.; Forman, Paul D.; Boyd, Amy E. 1989. Spatial patterns of
seed dispersal and predation of two myrmecochorous forest herbs.
Ecology. 70(6): 1649-1656. [15861]
18. Steyermark, J. A. 1963. Flora of Missouri. Ames, IA: Iowa State
University Press. 1725 p. [18144]
19. Steyermark, J. A.; Steyermark, C. S. 1960. Hepatica in North America.
Rhodora. 62: 223-232. [18965]
20. Struik, Gwendolyn J.; Curtis, J. T. 1962. Herb distribution in an Acer
saccharum forest. American Midland Naturalist. 68(2): 285-296. [18966]
21. USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. 2018. PLANTS Database, [Online].
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service (Producer).
Available: https://plants.usda.gov/. [34262]
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