496 HELLEBORUS. THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. HELLEBORUS. 



on stems 6 inches long, are about 3 

 inches across, and vary from a waxy- 

 white to a delicate blush tint. The 

 variety minor is smaller in every part, 

 and is also known as H. angustifolius. 

 H. altifolius, though sometimes con- 

 sidered a variety of H. niger, is a 

 distinct kind, and much larger than 

 H. niger. It has leaf -stalks over i foot 

 long, and blossoms 3 to 5 inches across, 



much earlier in some seasons in the 

 beginning of October. The Riverston, 

 St Brigids, Mme. Fourcade and Bath 

 varieties are all good. 



Other white kinds are H. olympicus 

 a tall slender species with cup-shaped 

 blossoms that appear in early spring 

 and vary from pure white to greenish- 

 white. H. guttatus is like it, but has 

 the inside of the blossoms spotted with 



Christmas Rose. 



which are borne on branching stems, 

 each stem bearing from two to seven 

 flowers, which have a stronger ten- 

 dency to assume a rosy hue than the 

 ordinary kind. Another characteristic 

 is that the leaf and flower-stems are 

 beautifully mottled with purple and 

 green, while in H. niger they are of 

 a pale green. H . altifolius also flowers 



purple. There are several forms ; in 

 some the markings assume the form 

 of small dots, in others of thin streaks. 

 It is one of the parents of the many 

 beautiful hybrids. 



The finest of the red or crimson kinds 

 is H. colchicus, which is larger than any 

 other, and may be readily recognised 

 by its thick, dark green leaves, with 



