Hepatica During Mid-Spring

Hepatica, April 11, 2005
I found this hepatica in the same general location as the plant shown from March 22, 2005. (See post from Sept 27.) Three weeks earlier, this same plant might have been producing fuzzy flower buds, which would have bloomed a few days later, and stayed in bloom for a few more days. As recently as two weeks prior to this photograph, this plant probably started losing its flower petals, as seeds began to develop where the flowers used to be. Meanwhile, the new leaves were also developing and getting ready to emerge through the dirt.
Here you can see the new leaves for the current year. Note how the sunight "highlights" the hairs along the stem, especially in the bottom right corner of the frame. Those two taller structures are also leaves, and I am not sure why they are so much taller and look different from the rest. At first glance, I would have second-guessed myself and suggested that those taller stems contained the developing fruits, but a closer look reveals that they do not. They really are just leaves! This is a typical appearance for hepatica during mid-spring. Though the flowering season is already over for hepatica, many other wildflowers are in peak bloom!