# Liverwort, or hepatica (Hepatica nobilis)

*Liverleaf; *Hepatica*, from Greek *hēpar*, “liver”*

**Known today as.** *Hepatica nobilis* (syn. *Anemone hepatica*). An early-spring woodland flower with three-lobed, liver-shaped evergreen leaves.

Kind: Plant  
Poisoning: Buttercup blistering (https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/poisons/protoanemonin)

## What was it used for?

The leaves brewed as a tea for complaints of the liver and digestion, and for the skin, by European herbalists and, independently, by Native peoples including the Iroquois.

## What does modern science say?

No controlled evidence supports its traditional use for the liver.

## Pharmacognosy and toxicology

- **protoanemonin**: released from ranunculin when the fresh plant is bruised
- **hepatrilobin**: a glycoside
- **tannins**: 
- **flavonoids**: 

**Mechanism.** A buttercup relative: the fresh leaf releases protoanemonin, a blistering irritant, which the dried herb loses; the dried tea is a mild astringent. Its liver reputation is the signature of its three-lobed leaf and nothing more.

**Dose.** The fresh plant blisters the mouth and gut; the dried herb is harmless at tea doses.

**Standing.** No monograph; a plant of the doctrine of signatures.

## What lore surrounds it?

Its Latin name comes straight from the Greek *hēpar*, “liver,” the doctrine of signatures reading its three-lobed leaf as nature’s own label for what it was meant to cure, a belief strong enough to survive in its English names, liverleaf and liverwort, long after the theory behind it was abandoned.

## Sources

- Forest Gems, “The Natural History and Lore of Hepatica.”
- Frohne, D., and Pfänder, H. J. (2005). *Poisonous Plants*, 2nd ed., “Ranunculaceae.”

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*Liverwort, or hepatica.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-09-27. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/liverwort-hepatica

Historical description, not medical advice.