Hacquetia epipactis is an unusual little umbellifer that adds the charm of its odd, green ruffed flowers to the spring season. It begins emerging in mid-April in my garden, in this area of cold and long winters... though much, much earlier in mild winter areas! The foliage is very decorative throughout the season, and reaches a height of about 6" after the bloom season... in my garden, it may have to put on growth to reach above the dense bulb foliage around it. The attached photos show a bit of its development through the early season.
It's native to lowland and upland woodlands in Europe, according to various sources.
It's obviously extremely hardy, and has been long-lived, though it has been very slow to spread for me. The soil here is generally alkaline clay, though our garden beds have been improved through time with the addition of organic matter. It withstands our generally dry conditions also, with little or no supplemental watering. I've read that it rarely seeds around - perhaps others can comment on whether that has been their experience or not? I've been growing it since purchasing a plant in 2004, and since then, have only found a couple of seedlings from it.
