BLACK HELLEBORE 



293 



often forming small knotty masses. The branches are short and erect, 

 marked with encircling leaf-scars, and usually terminated by the scar 

 of the aerial stem or occasionally by the remains of a stem or bud. On 



FIG. 144. Black Hellebore rhizome. A, young rhizome, natural size. 

 B, old knotty rhizome, natural size. 



the under surface the scars or short portions of numerous roots may 

 be seen ; in the fresh plants these are long, rather stout and straight, 

 but they are commonly removed from the drug. 



The rhizome breaks easily with a short fracture ; the section is 

 yellowish and exhibits a thick bark, within which is a ring of small 



Fla. 145. Black Hellebore rhizome. F, transverse 

 section of rhizome : a, bark ; y, wood-bundles ; c, 

 pith ; r, medullary rays ; magnified 3 diam. C, 

 transverse section of root : a, cortex ; 6, stele ; 

 magnified 3 diam. (Berg.) 



wood-bundles, all or some of which are narrow and radially elongated, 

 enclosing a large pith. In the root the bark is thick and the wood 

 tends to assume a stellate form, which, however, even in the older roots 

 in which it is most marked, is never so conspicuous as it is in the root 

 of Cimicifuga racemosa. 



