AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



133 



Helleborus continued. 



inciso-serrate. h. 2ft. Europe (Britain). Very distinct and 

 ornamental. See Fig. 212. (Sy. En. B. 45.) 



FIG. 212. FRUIT OF HELLEBORUS FCETIDUS. 



X. lividus (livid), fl. pale green, ten to twenty in a deltoid 

 corymb; sepals nearly flat and spreading. March. I. trifld, 



flabrous ; segments oblong-lanceolate, acute, sharply toothed, 

 terns erect, bearing eight or ten leaves crowded near the base, 

 below the inflorescence, h. lift. Corsica. (B. M. 72.) 



Helleboras continued. 



tral and Eastern Europe, Western Asia, 1596. The roots of this 

 species are occasionally used in medicine. See Fig. 213. (B. M. 

 8.) There are two or three varieties of this fine species: alti- 

 folius (see Fig. 214), usually known as major, and also as maxi- 

 mus, has very large flowers, measuring about 4in. across; it is 

 one of the best of the genus, anyvatifolius (Svx. minor) has 

 both foliage and flowers smaller than the typical species, and 

 comes into bloom much earlier. There is also a form having 

 foliage distinctly margined with white. 



H. odorus (sweet-seen toil). H. green, sweet-scented, drooping, 

 2in. across ; corymb three or four-flowered. February to April. 

 I. pale green, veined with white, one or two in a tuft to a flower- 

 ing stem, pedate; segments six to eight, lanceolate, regularly 

 toothed, h. lift. Eastern Europe, 1817. (B. B. 1643.) 



H. o. purpurasoens (purplish), fl. purplish-red, about 2in. across ; 

 sepals roundish, imbricated, incurved at the edges ; stamens and 

 anthers creamy-white. Stem one or two-flowered, h. 6in. to lOin. 

 Hungary, 1817. 



H. olympicus (Olympian).* fl. purplish ; sepals round, about 

 lin. long and broad. Spring. I. digitate-pedate, or palmate, with 



FIG 213. HELLEBORUS NIGER. 



H. nlger (black).* Christmas Rose, fl., when protected by glass, 

 pure white, 2in. to 3in. across ; scapes stout, leafless, one to four- 

 flowered. Winter. I. radical, large, pedate, persistent ; segments 

 oblanceolate-rhomboid, shallowly incised, h. 6in. to 18in. Cen- 



FIG. 214. HELLEBORUS NIGER ALTIFOLIUS. 



FIG. 215. HELLEBORUS OLYMPICUS, showing Habit, and fully 

 and partially expanded Flowers. 



five to seven linear-oblong, smooth, dentate-serrate lobes. Stems 

 two or three-flowered. h. 2ft. Greece, 1840. See Fig. 215. 

 (B. B. 1842, 58.) 



H. orientalis (Eastern), fl. rose-coloured, large ; sepals much 

 imbricated, spreading ; flowering stems with two to six blossoms, 

 and large, deeply palmately cut, foliaceous bracts. February to 

 May. I. shortly pedate, persistent, pubescent beneath ; seg- 

 ments seven to nine, oblanceolate-oblong, not palmately cut, 

 serrate, h. 1ft. to 2ft. Greece, 1839. Several forms, usually 

 described as species, are mere varieties of H. orientalis. 

 Among others, the following may be enumerated : antiquorum 

 differs from the type by its glabrous leaves, produced two in a 

 tuft ; flowers white, softly toned with pink and grey, guttatus, 

 flowers 2in. across, white ; sepals spotted with purple ; leaves 

 two in a tuft, with a flowering stem. Some of the hybrids of 

 H. orientalis are : eleyans, iridescent, and punctatus. 



H. viridis (green), fl. bright green ; flowering stem with five or 

 six distinct blossoms, and large, deeply palmately cut, foliaceous 

 bracts ; sepals roundish-ovate. Spring. I. pedate, with crowded, 

 oblanceolate, serrated segments, h. IJft. Europe (Britain), <&c. 

 (Sy. En. B. 44.) 



HELMET FLOWER. A common name applied to 

 Aconitum, Coryanth.es, and Scutellaria (which see). 



HELMHOLTZIA (named after Hermann Helmholtz, 

 a celebrated Prussian professor, born in 1821). OBD. 

 Philydraceae. A genus of a couple of species of green- 

 house tufted herbaceous perennials, one of which is from 

 Australia, and the other the one described below from 

 the Pacific Islands. They thrive in a well-drained sandy 

 loam and peat compost, and require plenty of water. 

 Increased by divisions, or by seeds. 



