Hepatica transsilvanica

A hardy, long-lived alpine perennial with larger blue flowers and semi-evergreen, scalloped leaves. It spreads by slender rhizomes, forming elegant patches under deciduous shrubs, in rock gardens, or alpine troughs, thriving in sun to part shade with well-drained, neutral to mildly alkaline soil.

Found mainly in the Carpathian Mountains of Romania, this has larger flowers and three-lobed semi-evergreen foliage. Blue is the commonest colour, and are more tolerant of drier, sunnier positions – although they don’t like to dry out completely.  They come from calcerous woodlands, so like neutral to mildly alkaline soils.  The images of the flower and leaf variation are from John Massey and Tomoo Mabuchi's amazing book on Hepaticas. 

NB H. nobilis along with other European types such as H. nobilis var. pyrenaica, (from the Pyrenees) H. transsilvanica  and H. x media (hybrids are known as this), are among the most reliable selections to grow as garden plants and the only ones we can source in NZ.

They are excellent for planting under deciduous shrubs and trees, or in a rock garden, alpine trough or container, John Massey has them as kokedama! But they need shade in late spring once flowering has finished. They doo need sun in winter and and early spring. Take care not to plant them with neighbours that will overcrowd them.

H. nobilis and this species readily form hybrids, as their geographic zones overlap and they have been bred by gardeners for a long time. 

However the origins of this species go back millions of years...

H. transsilvanica is an evolutionary hybrid . Molecular phylogenetics have confirmed that it is an allotetraploid, meaning it formed from  two different parent species whose chromosome count has doubled. Its maternal parent is H. nobilis, the widespread European species with entirely lobed leaves, while its paternal parent is the white flowered H. falconeri, native to Central Asia  (Kyrgyzstan, pakistan and Kashmir)with crenate or scalloped leaves.

To really get into it, this hybrid origin is evidenced by several lines of genetic research. Analysis of nuclear DNA sequences shows patterns consistent with contributions from both parent species, while the plant's plastid (mitochondrial) DNA is only inherited from the egg or maternally, closely matches that of H. nobilis. The hybrid nature is further supported by the plant's intermediate leaf morphology and its tetraploid chromosome count (n=28), compared to the diploid count (2n=14) of H. nobilis.

Dating analyses suggest this hybridization event occurred about 3 million years ago, during the late Pliocene. This makes H. transsilvanica substantially older than many European plant species, with its origin predating the major Quaternary  glaciation cycles that reshaped much of Europe's flora. So it has significant importance due to its restricted distribution and ancient lineage. Unlike its widespread parent H. nobilis, it is found only in the Southeastern Carpathians of Romania, where it has persisted for millions of years. This helps support evidence that this area was a refuge for ancient plant lineages during dramatic climatic changes.

Flower: Magnus Hagdorn from UK, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Lobed leaves: Krzysztof Ziarnek Kenraiz, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Massed leaves of the rhozomatous plant: Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons