OLD-FASHIONED GARDEN FLOWERS. 137 



met with ; but, from the fact of its coming into bloom in the 

 first month of the year, and having finely -formed purple flowers, 

 it is a desirable companion to the white Christmas Rose ; it is 

 variously stated to have white and purple flowers, both state- 

 ments being authorised ; they are produced in spare clusters on 

 stems a foot high ; the buds are charming objects, of a ruddy- 

 brown colour, and the size of a big filbert; they are rather 

 close together, and supported by a " cut floral leaf." The leaves 

 are well divided and almost palm-shaped, the leaflets being 

 ovate and toothed. It is a free grower, and never fails to bloom 

 well too. 



Cultivation and flowering period, the same as with H. niger. 



Helleborus Orientalis. 



EASTERN HELLEBORE; Nat. Ord. RANUNCTJLACEJE. 

 SOMETIMES also called the Lenten Rose, as it may often be 

 seen in flower during Lent, though it is no uncommon thing 

 for it to bloom in January in favoured situations and mild 

 winters. This is a very old species which has long been known 

 to botanists, but it has only recently been introduced into this 

 country. It is a native of the Levant, is plentiful on 

 mountains and near Thessalonica and Constantinople. It has 

 gone under the name of H. officinalis, and as such was, as it still 

 is, the shop Hellebore of the East. As a garden flower it is to be 

 recommended as one of the best of the genus ; the colour is 

 often a fine rose variously tinted, and the blooms are of good 

 size. It is, however, a species respecting which there is still 

 considerable misconception. One authority says the leaves die 

 off: and again appear with the flowers ; another classes it with 

 the group "leaves not annually dying"; then one says, "the 

 greenish-white blossoms are tinted at the margin with purple " ; 

 another, that the flowers are " rose-coloured " ; whilst botanical 

 descriptions, usually so taunting to the florist as regards 

 blossom-colour, are no exceptions in this case. " Sepals oval, 

 coloured," does not point out very clearly the information desired. 

 Many of the species of Hellebore are known to produce flowers 

 varying more or less in colour; and we also know that an 

 individual blossom, during the long period in which the sepals 

 keep good, often changes its tints and colours, but we are 

 scarcely prepared to hear that a species has greenish-white 

 flowers, whilst we have always seen a rosy or rosy-purple one 

 produced. Still, the information from another source, that H. 

 orientalis is a species intermediate between H. niger and H. 

 viridis, would seem to favour the greenish-white as the typical 

 colour ; be that as it may, it is most likely that the more desir- 

 able rosy-flowered variety will prevail in flower gardens, that 

 being the general recognised colour of the type, and moreover, 



