46 
Black Hellebore is a drastic purgative; in smaller doses it is 
diuretic and emmenagogue. It has been used as a purgative in 
cases of mania, melancholy, coma, dropsy, worms, and psora. 
But its use requires very great caution, for its effects are very 
uncertain, and affected by many circumstances.—It may be ex- 
hibited in the form of an extract, although its activity be much 
dissipated by the preparation. An infusion and tincture certainly 
promise to be medicines of more uniform powers. Edin. new 
disp. p. 360. 
Black Hellebore, or Christmas Rose. Fl. Jan. Mar. Clt. 
1596. 
§ 2. Stem fenw-flowered, somewhat dichotomous, bearing an 
almost sessile, cleft, or cut floral leaf. 
2 H. orienta Lis (Gars. exot. t. 19. f. Be ex. Lam. dict. 3. 
p- 92.) radical leaves pedate, pubescent on the under surface ; 
floral leaves almost ‘sessile, palmate; peduncles usually bifid ; 
sepals oval, coloured. 2. H. Native ofthe Levant on moun- 
tains. Plentiful on mountains about Thessalonica and near Con- 
stantinople. Desf. choix. pl. cor. p. 58. t.45. H. officinàlis. 
Sal. in Lin. trans. 8. p. 305. Smith fl. græc. t. 583. Calyx 
purplish, permanent; stamens and petals. soon falling off. An 
intermediate species between H. niger and H. viridis. This is 
the black hellebore of the ancients, formerly celebrated as a me- 
dicine in mania, epilepsy, and dropsy. It is called Zopleme by 
the Turks, and by the Greeks Xvap¢n, and is still kept in the 
shops of the East. The medicinal qualities of the root are acrid 
and violently purgative. 
Eastern Hellebore. PI. 1 foot. 
3 H. purpura’scens (Walds. et Kit. pl. hung. 2. p. 105. 
t. 101.) radical leaves pubescent on the under surface, palmate, 
with the segments cuneated at the base, and from 3-5-lobed at 
the apex; stem 2-flowered ; floral leaves almost sessile ; sepals 
roundish, coloured. %.H. Native of Hungary, Podolia, and 
Volhynia. Flowers purplish. 
Var. B, Bocconi (D. C. prod. 1. p. 47.) stem longer than the 
leaves.—Boc. Mus. 2. p.26.t.11. f. R. Y.H. Native of the 
Apennines of Etruria. Perhaps a distinct species. 
Purplish Hellebore. Fl. Mar. April. Clt.1817. Pl. 1 ft. 
4 H. opo'rus (Walds. et Kit. ex Willd. enum. p. 592.) radical 
leaves palmate, pubescent on the under surface; segments oblong, 
undivided, quite entire at the base, but serrated at the apex ; 
stem bifid ; sepals ovate-oblong, acutish, green. 2/.H. Native 
of Hungary. Like H. purpurascens and H. viridis, differing 
from the first in the flowers being green, not purplish. 
Sweet-scented Hellebore. Fl. Mar. Apr. Clt. 1817. Pl. 1 ft. 
5 H. vrripis (Lin. spec. 784.) radical leaves very smooth, 
cauline ones almost sessile, palmate ; peduncles generally bifid; 
sepals roundish-ovate, green. 
thickets, on a chalky soil, particularly in Germany, Italy, France, 
and England in Oxfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Sussex, and other 
chalk counties, indubitably wild, although not common; near 
Hartfield, Middlesex, about Great Marlow and High Wickham, 
Bucks, and in the north-west part of Norfolk. Smith eng. bot. 
t.200. Curt. lond. fase. 6. t. 34. Jacq. aust. t. 106. Schkuhr. 
handb. no. 1536. t. 154. Blackw. herb. t. 509 and 510. Flowers 
green. Haller reckons up all the reputed virtues of Hellebore 
under this species; which indeed seems to be what German prac- 
titioners have substituted for the true plant of the ancients H. 
orientàlis. 
We learn from the Flora Londinensis, that the roots of this 
plant are used in London for the true Black Hellebore ; and pro- 
bably their qualities are the same, for this species is even more 
nearly allied to the ancient Greek plant H. orientàlis than the 
H. niger. 
Green Hellebore. Fl, Ap. May. Britain. Pl. 14 foot. 
1 
Pl. 4 to 1 foot. 
RANUNCULACEX. XXI. 
Y%. H. Native in woods and’ 
Herresorus. XXII. Corris. 
6 H. atroru Bens (Walds. et Kit. pl. hung. 3. p. 301. t. 271.) 
radical leaves very smooth, pedate, paler and shining underneath ; 
cauline leaves almost sessile, palmate ; stem somewhat angular, 
bifidly branched ; sepals roundish, coloured, 2%.H. Native of 
Hungary in woods and bushy places, in great plenty at Kore- 
nicza. Flowers dark purple, particularly the edges of the sepals. 
Dark-purple-flowered Hellebore. Fl. Feb. Apr. Clt. 1820. 
Pl. 14 foot. 
7 H. vumeto rum (Walds. et Kit. ex Willd. enum. p. 592.) 
radical leaves very smooth, pedate ; cauline leaves almost sessile, 
palmate ; stem round, bifidly branched ; sepals roundish, green. 
Y.H. Native of Hungary. Flowers green. 
Thicket Hellebore. Fl. Mar. Apr. Clt. 1817. Pl. 1 foot. 
8 H. mutti'ripus (Robert. de Visiani in fl. bot. zeit. 1829. 
p- 13.) stem tall, angular, bifid; branches few-flowered ; radical 
leaves on long stalks, large, coriaceous, smooth, pedate-parted ; 
lobes dichotomous, with an entire cuneated base; segments 
narrow, lanceolate, acuminated, sharply serrated and very veiny; 
floral leaves palmate-parted almost sessile; sepals broad, ovate. 
Y%.H. Native of Dalmatia on the mountains. Resembles H. 
dumetorum but larger in size, and flowers more copious, but also 
greenish. 
Multifid-leaved Hellebore. Fl. April, May. Pl. 14-3 feet. 
§ 3. 
Stem leafy, many-flowered ; peduncles furnished with 
bracteas. 
9 H. ra‘ripus (Lin. spec. 784.) stem many-flowered, leafy; 
leaves pedate, very smooth; segments oblong-linear. XY. H 
Native in thickets and waste ground on a chalky or gravelly soil, 
particularly in Portugal, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, France, Ger- 
many. England more common than H. viridis in chalky coun- 
ties. Smith eng. bot. 613. Woodv. med. hot. t..19. Bull. 
herb. t.71. An evergreen plant with green flowers, which are 
tinged with purple on the edges. The whole herb is feetid, 
acrid, violently cathartic, with a nauseous taste, especially when 
fresh. The leaves, when dried, are sometimes given as a domestic 
medicine to destroy worms; but they must be used sparingly; 
being so violent in their operation that many instances of their 
fatal effects are recorded. A dose of about 15 grains of the pow- 
der of the dried leaves is given to children, which proves gently 
emetic and purgative. The decoction of about a drachm of the 
fresh leaves being considered equal to 15 grains of the dry ones; 
it is usually repeated on two, and sometimes three successive 
mornings, and seldom fails to bring away worms, if there be any 
in the intestinal canal. 
Feetid Hellebore. Fl. Mar. Apr. Britain. Pl. 1 to 2 feet. 
10 H. rivipus (Ait. hort. kew. ed. 1. vol. 2. p. 272.) stem 
many-flowered, leafy ; leaves ternate, very smooth, glaucous on the 
under surface ; segments ovate, lanceolate. XY. H. Native 0 
Corsica. Curt. bot. mag. t. 72. H. argutifolius Viv. An ever 
green plant with livid flowers, a little larger than those of H. 
Se’ tidus. 
Var. B, integrilobus (D. C. prod. 1. p. 47.) segments of 
leaves quite entire. 2.H. H. trifdlius. Mill. dict. no. 4. 
but not of Lin. 
Livid-flowered Hellebore. Fl. Jan. May. Clt. 1710. pl. 1 ft. 
Cult. All the species of this genus will thrive well in any 
common garden soil, but they will grow best if planted under 
the shade of trees. They are easily increased by dividing the 
plants at the roots or by seeds. 
XXII. CO’PTIS (from korrw, kopto, to cut, in reference to ri 
numerous divisions of the leaves). Salisb. Lin. soc. trans: *' 
p. 305. D.C. syst. 1. p. 321. prod. 1. p. 47. 
Lin. syst. Polydndria, Polygynia. Calyx of 5 or 6 coloured, 
petal-like, deciduous sepals, Petals small, cucullate. Stamens 
