46 



RANUNCULACE^l. XXI. HELLEBORUS. XXII. COPTIS. 



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. PL 4 to 1 foot. 



2. Stem fen-fionered, somewhat dichotomous, bearing an 

 almost sessile, cleft, or cut floral leaf. 



2 H. ORIENTA'LIS (Gars. exot. t. 19. f. B. ex. Lam. diet. 3. 

 p. 92.) radical leaves pedate, pubescent on the under surface ; 

 floral leaves almost "sessile, palmate ; peduncles usually bifid ; 

 sepals oval, coloured. If.. H. Native of the Levant on moun- 

 tains. Plentiful on mountains about Thessalonica and near Con- 

 stantinople. Desf. choix. pi. cor. p. 58. t. 45. H. officinalis. 

 Sal. in Lin. trans. 8. p. 305. Smith fl. graec. 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 Suap^i;, 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. pi. hung. 2. p. 105. 

 1. 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. I/ . H. Native of Hungary, Podolia, and 

 Volhynia. Flowers purplish. 



Var.fi, Bocconi (D. C. prod. 1. p. 47.) stem longer than the 

 leaves. Boc. Mus. 2. p. 26. t. 11. f. R. l/.H. Native of the 

 Apennines of Etruria. Perhaps a distinct species. 



Purplish Hellebore. Fl. Mar. April. Clt. 1817. PI. 1 ft. 



4 H. ODO'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. If. . H. Native 

 of Hungary. Like H. purpurdscens and H. viridis, differing 

 from the first in the flowers being green, not purplish. 



Sweet-scented Hellebore. Fl. Mar. Apr. Clt. 1817. PI. 1 ft. 



5 H. VI'RIDIS (Lin. spec. 784.) radical leaves very smooth, 

 cauline ones almost sessile, palmate ; peduncles generally bifid ; 

 sepals roundish-ovate, green. If. . H. Native in woods and 

 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. lend. fasc. 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. 

 orienlalis. 



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. orientalis than the 

 H. niger. 



Green Hellebore. Fl. Ap. May. Britain. PI. 1| foot. 



6 H. ATRORU BENS (Walds. et Kit. pi. 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. If. . 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. 

 Pr. 1| foot. 



7 H. DUMETO'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. 

 If. . H. Native of Hungary. Flowers green. 



Thicket Hellebore. Fl. Mar. Apr. Clt. 1817. PI. 1 foot. 



8 H. MULII'FIDUS (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. 

 ~if. . H. Native of Dalmatia on the mountains. Resembles H. 

 dumetorum but larger in size, and flowers more copious, but also 

 greenish. 



Hellebore. Fl. April, May. PI. l|-3 feet. 



3. Stem leafy, many -flowered ; peduncles furnished with 

 bracteas. 



9 H. FOS'TIDXJS (Lin. spec. 784.) stem many-flowered, leafy ; 

 leaves pedate, very smooth ; segments oblong-linear. If. . 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. bot. t. 19. Bull. 

 herb. t. 71. An evergreen plant with green flowers, which are 

 tinged with purple on the edges. The whole herb is fcetid, 

 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 1 5 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 1 5 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. 



Fcetid Hellebore. Fl. Mar. Apr. Britain. PI. 1 to 2 feet. 



10 H. LIVIDUS (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. I/ . H. Native of 

 Corsica. Curt. bot. mag. t. 72. H. argutifolius Viv. An ever- 

 green plant with livid flowers, a little larger than those of H. 

 foelidus, 



Var. ft, integrilobus (D. C. prod. 1. p. 47.) segments of 

 leaves quite entire. I/ . H. H. trifolius. Mill. diet. 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 KOTTTU, kopto, to cut, in reference to the 

 numerous divisions of the leaves). Salisb. Lin. soc. trans. 8. 

 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 



