132 HARDY PERENNIALS AND 



the summer shade, if not too dense, will prove more beneficial 

 to them than otherwise. 



Cultivation, ordinary garden soil. 



Flowering period, December to April. 



Helleborus Guttatus. 



SPOTTED HELLEBORE ; Nat. Ord. RANUNCTJLACE^E. 

 THIS is one of the newer species or varieties ; its main distinc- 

 tion is well implied by the specific name. The flowers are fully 

 2in. across, and white ; the sepals are spotted with purple ; the 

 petals are more constant than in some species, and of a rich 

 green colour; flowers are produced on stems having the floral 

 leaf ; the buds are a greenish white, but very beautiful. The 

 foliage is smaller than that of most kinds ; the leaves are radical, 

 rather short-stalked, pedate, and divisions narrow ; they are of 

 a leathery substance and a dark green colour. This is a free 

 bloomer, a fact which, together with those of its winter-blooming 

 habit and distinct flowers, renders it a valuable acquisition to 

 the open garden. Either cut or growing, it is very lasting. 



Cultivation, as for H. Abchasicus. 



Flowering period, January to March. 



Helleborus Niger. 

 BLACK HELLEBORE, or CHRISTMAS ROSE ; 



Nat. Ord. RANITNCTJLACE^E. 



A HARDY, herbaceous perennial. It came from Austria in 1597. 

 In favoured situations it proves evergreen ; there is nothing 

 black to be seen about a growing plant, and it has often puzzled 

 its admirers as to the cause of its specific name, which is in 

 reference to the black roots of a year or more old. It would 

 appear, moreover, that this is not the true " Black Hellebore " 

 of the ancients (see remarks under H. Orientalis}. This "old- 

 fashioned " flower is becoming more and more valued. . That it 

 is a flower of the first quality is not saying much, compared 

 with what might be said for it ; and, perhaps, no plant under 

 cultivation is capable of more improvement by proper treatment 

 (see Fig. 48). Soil, position, and tillage may all be made to bear 

 with marked effect on this plant, as regards size and colour of 

 flowers and season of bloom. We took its most used common 

 name Christmas Rose from the Dutch, who called it 

 Christmas Herb, or Christ's Herb, " because it flowereth about 

 the birth of our Lord lesus Christ," and we can easily imagine that 

 its beautiful form would suggest the other part of its compound 

 name, " rose." In sheltered parts, where the soil is deep and 

 rich, specimens will grow a foot high and begin to bloom in 

 December, continuing until March. 



