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hairy on the outside, longer than the calix.^-Native of 

 Arabia. 



21. Heliotropium Lineatum. Leaves elliptic, petioled, 

 rolled back at the edge, flat; spikes conjugate; stem pro- 

 cumbent ; branches slender, a span long, villose, tomentose 

 above ; corolla smooth, longer than the calix ; tube widening 

 at the top. Distinguished from the preceding, by the form 

 and hairiness of the leares, with the edge not at all waved ; 

 by the presence of bractes ; by the smoothness of the corolla, 

 and by the stigma being quite entire. Native of Arabia. 



22. Heliotropium Ternatum. Leaves in threes, and alter- 

 nate, lanceolate, hoary underneath ; spikes terminating, con- 

 jugate ; branches round, hoary, with small hairs pressed 

 close ; corolla white. Native of the West Indies. 



23. Heliotropium Pinnatum. Leaves pinnate ; stem erect, 

 herbaceous, simple, only branching a little at the base, a foot 

 high, the size of a goose-quill, villose; peduncles axillary 

 and terminating; flowers crowded. Found in the Straits of 

 Magellan. 



24. Heliotropium Amplexicaule. Leaves lanceolate, ob- 

 tuse, half stem-clasping; spikes branching; stem shrubby; 

 branches hairy ; from the axils there are rudiments of branch- 

 lets ; peduncle terminating, hairy, twice or thrice dichoto- 

 mous at top ; tube of the corolla twice as long as the calix, 

 with fewer villose hairs scattered over it. Found in Brazil. 



Hellebore. See Helleborus. 



Hellebore, White. See Veratrum. 



Helleborine. See Arethusa Divaricafa. 



Helleborus ; a genus of the class Polyandria, order Poly- 

 gynia. GENERIC CHARACTER. Calix: none, unless the 

 corolla, which in some species is permanent, be so called. 

 Corolla: petals five, roundish, blunt, large ; nectaries seve- 

 ral, very short, placed in a ring, one-leafed, tubular, narrower 

 at bottom ; mouth two-lipped, upright, emarginate, the inner 

 lip shorter. Stamina : filamenta numerous, subulate ; an- 

 theree compressed, narrower at bottom, upright. Pistil: 

 germina about six, compressed ; styles subulate ; stigmas 

 thickish ; (Gtertner says, pistilla five or more, permanent.) 

 Pericarp : capsules (leguminous, beaked, according to Geert- 

 ner) compressed, two-keeled, the lower keel shorter, the upper 

 convex, gaping. Seeds : several, round, fixed to the suture. 

 Observe. The first species drops its petals, the other sorts 

 retain them, and they become green : the number of pistils 

 varies much. ESSENTIAL CHARACTER. Calix: none. Pe- 

 tals: five, or more (or Calix: five-leaved, Corolla: none.) 

 Nectary: two-lipped, tubular. Capsule: many-seeded. 

 The species are, 



1. Helleborus Hyemalis; Winter Hellebore or Aconite. 

 Flowers solitary, sitting in the upper leaf; root tuberous, 

 transverse, with many dependent fibres, putting up several 

 naked stems or scapes, simple, smooth, round, from an inch 

 or two to four inches in height, terminated by a single leaf, 

 spreading out horizontally in a circle, divided into five parts 

 almost to the base, and the parts simple or divided into two, 

 three, or four lobes. In the bosom of this sits one large, upright, 

 yellow flower; the petals ovate, marked with lines, converging 

 a little, deciduous, usually six in number, or from six to eight ; 

 pistils six, or from four to six ; and stamina about thirty. 

 This, like all the other Hellebores, is a powerful medicine, and 

 requires great caution in the application : see the third and fifth 

 species. Gerarde calls itWinter'sWolf's-bane.and Small Yel- 

 low Wolf's-bane ; and is now generally known by the name of 

 Winter Aconite. Native of mountainous situations in Austria, 

 Silesia, Switzerland; also of Lorabardy and other parts of Italy. 

 This flowers very early in the spring, \vhich renders it worthy 

 of a place iff all curious crardens. csneciallv as it reriuires 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



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677 



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VOL. i. 57. 



curioas gardens, especially as it requires 



but little room: it is propagated by offsets, which the roots 

 send out in plerily ; these roots may be taken up and trans- 

 planted any time after their leaves decay, which is generally 

 from the beginning of June till October, when they will begin 

 to put out new fibres ; but as the roots are small, and nearly 

 of the colour of the ground, so, if care is not taken to search 

 them, many of the roots will be left in the ground: they 

 should be planted in slnall clusters, otherwise they will not 

 make a good appearance; for single flowers of this small 

 kind, when scattered about the borders, can scarcely be seen 

 at a distance ; but when planted in bunches alternately with 

 Snowdrops, will have a good effect, as they flower at the 

 same time, and are much of a size. This plant flowers so 

 early, that it is liable to be cut off by severe frosts. 



2. Helleborus Ranunculinus ; Ranunculus-leaved Helle- 

 bore. Flowers solitary, peduncled; leaves digitate, multifid, 

 gashed; stem a hand in height, upright, round, smooth, 

 leafy at the top, sustaining one or two flowers, which are 

 axillary, solitary, peduncled, upright, and yellow. It is very 

 nearly related to the preceding species, but handsomer. 

 Tournefort imported it from Cappadocia. 



3. Helleborus Niger ; Black Hellebore, or Christmas Rose. 

 Stem almost naked, with one or two flowers ; leaves pedate ; 

 roots perennial, creeping, entangled, very black on the out- 

 side, externally rough and knotted, with many long, simple, 

 perpendicular fibres ; corolla very large, generally white at 

 first, but frequently with a tint of red, growing deeper with 

 age, and finally becoming green. It derives the name of 

 Black Hellebore from the colour of the root ; and of Christmas 

 Rose, from the time of flowering and the colour of the corolla. 

 Native of Italy, Austria, Iclria, and Silesia, in mountainous 

 situations, flowering from December to March. This species 

 has usually been taken for the true Black Hellebore of the 

 ancients, till Tournefort discovered the mistake. See the fifth 

 species. Culpeper confounds this plant with the sixth spe- 

 cies ; but his account will apply equally well to both. He 

 says it is not safe to give it raw, and that if any harm arise 

 from taking it in that state, the common cure is to take 

 goat's milk; and where that cannot be obtained, such milk 

 as can be gotten. The roots, adds he, are very effectual 

 against all melancholy diseases, especially such as are of long 

 standing, as quartan agues and madness ; it helps the falling 

 sickness, the leprosy, both the yellow and black jaundice, 

 tlie gout, sciatica, and convulsions : but, unfortunately, this 

 renowned herbarist has forgotten to inform us, what quantity 

 is to be taken for the dose, and also the manner of appli- 

 cation ; so that we cannot avail ourselves of his experience and 

 skill. Although many writers consider the root a perfectly 

 innocent and safe medicine, yet as we find several examples of 

 its poisonous effects, it should always be employed with great 

 caution. It seems to have been principally owing to its pur- 

 gative quality, that the ancients esteemed this root such a power- 

 ful remedy in maniacal disorders ; because they suppose it 

 evacuated the black bile, from which those diseases were then 

 thought to proceed: but, though evacuations are often found 

 necessary in various cases of alienation of mind, yet as they can 

 be produced with more certainty and safety by other medicines, 

 this catholicon of antiquity seems now almost entirely aban- 

 doned. It is however still used in small doses of six or eight 

 grains, for attenuating viscid humours, promoting the uterine 

 and urinary discharges, and opening inveterate obstructions 

 of the remoter glands ; it often proves a powerful emmena- 

 goguc in plethoric habits, where steel is considered as impro- 

 per: it is also used in dropsies, and in some cutaneous diseases. 

 The roots of the plant, says Dr. Hill, are the only parts to be 

 Used in medicine. These are of a bitter pungent taste, and, 



8K 



