142 



HELLEBORUS. 



to 15 in. high. Flowers, 1, 2 or 3 on 

 a stem, the unopened buds suffused 

 with faint rose, gracefully curved 

 downwards ; when fully expanded 

 pure white, 3 to 4^ in. in diameter, 

 with a bunch of yellow stamens an 

 inch or more across ; usually with two 

 concave, shell - like, heart - shaped 

 bracts just behind the flower. Leaves, 

 pedate, quite smooth ; leaflets 5 to 10, 

 lance -shaped, serrate in the upper 

 part, stout and leathery. H. niger 

 maximus is a variety much larger in 

 all its parts, flowering considerably 

 earlier ; attaining, when well-grown, 

 a height of 2 ft., and bearing 2 to 7 

 flowers, from 34 to 5^ in. across, on 

 branched stems ; the leaflets more 

 oblique and irregular in outline. H. 

 niger minor is a variety much smaller 

 than the type, with leaflets distantly 

 and irregularly toothed, the teeth 

 resembling small lobes, and with 

 sepals narrower and more pointed. 

 Europe. Perhaps the best posi- 

 tions for the Christmas Hose and its 

 varieties are on warm and sheltered 

 grassy banks, where they would have 

 better drainage, and where the flowers 

 would be kept from splashing by the 

 surrounding grass ; but they are so ex- 

 cellent that they may with advantage 

 be used in almost any other position 

 in which they may be desired in or- 

 dinary soil. They should be naturalized 

 where there is space for this interesting 

 phase of gardening. Division. 



Helleborus odorus (Sweet H.) A 

 rare and interesting kind, I ft. high. 

 flowers, in March and April, some- 

 times in February; greenish, sweet- 

 scented, drooping, nearly 2 in. across ; 

 3 to 5 flowers on the top of each stem. 

 Leaves, pale green, veined with white ; 

 those of the root stalked, pedate, with 

 6 to 8 lanceolate, regularly toothed 

 divisions ; near the top of the stem 

 there is a single, almost sessile, leaf 

 with from 3 to 5 divisions. Hungary. 



Does best on declivities with a 



shady northern aspect, in substantial 

 loam, mixed with peat. Division. 



Helleborus olympicus (Olympian H.) 

 A handsome species ; 12 to 15 in. 

 high. Flowers, in spring ; purplish ; 

 petals about 13 in number ; anthers 

 of a yellowish white ; 2 or 3 blooms on 

 each stem. Leaves, digitate -pedate, 

 or palmate, with 5 to 7 linear-oblong, 

 smooth, dentate-serrate lobes rather 

 close together. Mount Olympus, in 



Greece. Warm sheltered borders 



and banks, the margins of beds of 

 early-flowering shrubs, or in sunny 

 nooks on the lower flanks of the rough 

 rockwork, in good soil. Division. 



Helleborus orientalis (Oriental Helle- 

 tore.} A very fine kind, allied to the 

 Christmas Rose, but distinguished 

 from it by its leaves, which are annual 

 and appear with the flowers ; 8 in. to 

 2 ft. high. Flowers, from February to 

 April ; large, rose-coloured. Leaves, 

 very much divided, large, somewhat 

 downy when young; stem-leaves 

 sessile and palmate. Greece and 



Syria. A number of intermediate 



varieties have been obtained by cross- 

 ing this plant with the Christmas 

 Rose, and also perhaps with H. pur- 

 purascens. These varieties are gene- 

 rally more vigorous than either of the 

 types, and bear large open flowers 

 with slightly waved petals more or 

 less white or rose-coloured. The most 

 remarkable of them is H. atrorubens 

 hybridus. Borders, fringes of shrub- 

 beries, grassy banks and slopes, etc., 

 in good garden soil. Division. 



Helleborus purpurascens (Purple- 

 flowered H.} A dwarfer species than 

 H. atrorubens, with violet-coloured 

 stems, 6 to 10 in. high, surrounded at 

 the base by a membranous sheath. 

 Flowers, in March ; purplish- red, with 

 white stamens ; broadly vase shaped, 

 nearly 2 in. across, drooping, 1 to 2 

 on each stem. Leaves, of a greyish- 



