138 HARDY PERENNIALS AND 



one which renders it pleasingly distinct in the whole genus. 

 There are hybrid kinds which have been raised from this 

 species crossed with H. viridis and, perhaps, others, and some 

 of them have greenish- white flowers; but they should not be 

 confounded with the species under notice. These varieties have 

 received such names as H. orientalis elegans, H. o. viridescens, 

 and H. o. punctatus. If hybrids are to be honoured with 

 specific names, it will require much care to avoid confusion, 

 and it is just possible that some such causes have led to 

 the various descriptions above referred to. The type under 

 notice is fairly distinct, and the amateur having a slight 

 acquaintance with the Hellebore family will have little difficulty 

 in making it out. 



The flowers are produced on forked stems, and are accom- 

 panied by finely-cut floral leaves, nearly sessile and palmate; the 

 radical leaves are large, pedate, downy underneath, having long 

 stalks, and remaining green throughout winter. The habit is to 

 push the stout flower stems well up above the foliage, sometimes 

 as high as 18in. ; the flowers are very durable, at least the major 

 parts as the sepals are, the stamens and petals falling some- 

 what sooner than those of most species ; if different positions 

 are given to a few specimens, flowers may be had from Christmas 

 to Lent, according to amount of shelter or exposure therein 

 obtained for the plants. 



There are facts connected with this plant, as other than a 

 garden subject, which can hardly fail to be generally interesting. 

 " This is the Black Hellebore of the ancients," so that, though 

 H. niger bears the name and is known to be largely possessed 

 of properties similar to those of the oriental species, it is proved 

 to be wrongly applied. So much was claimed by ancient doctors 

 for the Black Hellebore as a medicine in mania, epilepsy, dropsy, 

 and other ills to which mortals are heirs, that naturally the time 

 plant was sought with much zeal. Dr. Woodville laments the 

 want of proper descriptions of plants and the consequences, 

 and in his " Botany," p. 51, points out some ridiculous errors 

 made in reference to the Black Hellebore previous to 1790 ; he 

 gives the names of many plants which had been mistaken for it 

 and actually employed, and he assumes that at the time of his 

 writing all such errors had not only been discovered, but cor- 

 rected, by what he then described as, and we now call by the 

 name of, H. niger, being the true Black Hellebore ; and after 

 all, the potent herb of the ancients has been identified in a plant 

 (a near relation, it is true) other than the white Christmas Rose 

 it may be some time before we come to think of our present 

 subject as the true Black Hellebore, especially when an otherwise 

 popular species bears the name. 



Cultivation, as for H. niger. 



Flowering period, December to April. 



