BUTTERCUP FAMILY 17 



9. Helleborus (Hellebore). — Perennial herbs ; leaves pal- 

 mately or pedately lobed ; sepals 5, large, herbaceous, imbricate, 

 persistent ; /^/^/i" 5 — 10, small, tubular, 2-lipped, clawed ; /rw// 

 of 3 — 10 sessile follicles. (Name from the Greek heleiti, to take 

 away, and bbra^ food, from its use as an emetic.) 



1. H. viridis (Green Hellebore, Bear's-foot). — A herbaceous 

 perennial, about i foot high ; leaves palmatisect, 5 — 7 lobed ; 

 flowers \\ — 2 in. across; sepals green, spreading; petals con- 

 taining honey, which is said to be poisonous. — Thickets on 

 chalky soil. — Fl. March — April. Perennial. 



2. H. fcktidus (Stinking Hellebore, Setterwort). — Stem peren- 

 nial, I — 2 feet high ; leaves pedate ; flcnvers i in. across, drooping; 

 sepals green, tipped with dull purple, converging. Best distin- 

 guished from the preceding by its leaves, which are not divided 

 to a common centre, and by the purplish hue of its sepals. — 

 Thickets on chalky soil. — Fl. February — April. Perennial. 



Both species are somew^hat doubtful natives, generally found 

 near houses. Small flies may sometimes be found caught in the 

 honey of the tubular petals. H. ?iiger, a handsome species, with 

 large white or rose-coloured flowers, is the well-known Christmas 

 Rose of our gardens. 



■'^lo. Eranthis (Winter Aconite). — A small perennial herb 

 with a fleshy rhizome ; leaves palmatisect ; flowers solitary ; sepals 

 5 — 8, deciduous, yellow ; /^/^A' small, tubular, 2-lipped, with a 

 long claw; follicles 5 — 6, stalked. (Name from the Greek ^r, 

 spring, and dnthos, flower.) 



I.* ^. hy emails (Winter Aconite). — Ste?n 4 — 6 in. high ; leaves 

 orbicular, deeply 3 — 7-lobed, glossy, lobes linear-oblong, obtuse ; 

 involucre, of sessile leafy bracts, just below the solitary, golden- 

 yellow flower. — Common in gardens, and sometimes naturalised. 

 — Fl. January — March. Perennial. 



II. Aquilegia (Columbine). — An erect perennial herb; leaves 

 2 — 3-ternate ; floivers handsome, i — 2 in. across ; sepals 5, peta- 

 loid, deciduous ; petals 5, each with a long spur ; follicles 5. 

 (Name from the Latin aqinla, an eagle, the claws of which the 

 spurs of the petals are supposed to resemble.) 



I. A. vulgaris (Columbine). — The only British species, common 

 in gardens, to which in spring it is very ornamental, with its 

 delicate glaucous leaves ; and no less so in summer, with its 

 curiously-shaped and variously-coloured flowers. W'hen growing 

 wild, its flowers are usually blue, purple, or white. It may be 

 distinguished from all other British flowers by having each of its 



