32 
The? BaR el hel Soh Hob eReB eA I 
Secbree Rood Be Sie Fs 
Natives off BRITAIN. 
Thofe of which one or more fpecies, are naturally wild in this country. 
ING AU Sian 
HEL LE Bor § 
GE 
BLACK 
HELLEBORUS NIGER. 
Lack hellebore hag finpered leaves; and large flowers, compofed of five roundifh petals: and thefe 
have no cup. In the centre ftand numerous threads, with upright flatted buttons, and the ru- 
diments of feveral capfules, which when ripe are large, and comprefled, and contain roundifh feeds, 
It is one of the polyandria polyeynia of Linnaeus. 
Dal eval’ Sele Oe Nea F, 
1. Small wild Hellebore, 
” Helleborafter niger flore viridi. 
~The root is a tuft of thick, numerous, black 
fibres. ; 
The firft leaves ftand on Jong footftalks; and 
are large, of adeep green, and divided into feveral 
parts, in the manner of ‘fingers: thefe are each 
of them long, narrow, fharp-pointed, and deeply 
ferrated at the edges. } 
The ftalks are numerous, and about 2 foot 
high: they are round, green, firm, and upright. 
The leaves on thefe are few: they refemble 
thofe from the root; but are fmaller, and have 
fhort footftalks ; often none, . 
The flowers ftand at the tops of the branches, 
and very large and fingular: they have no cup: 
they are green, but paler than the leaves; and 
they have a great number of threads, with white 
buttons in their centre. 
The feed-vefiels appear among thefe, and after- 
wards ripen; the flower not falling, but. remain- 
ing with them. : 
Some have hence faid that it is properly a cup, 
and that this plant has no flower, It is true, that 
the flower of ‘this plant does not agree with their 
definitions of a ower, which fay that it muft: be 
compofed of leaves differently coloured from thofe 
of the plant, and that they mutt fall off before the 
feed ripens ; but nature is thore certain than their 
characters. The flower of the wild hellebore is truly 
fuch ; and all we learn by their nice diftinGions is, 
that their definition is imperfe& : that fhould be 
altered ; not this {truck out of the lift of flowers, 
The pods, when ripened, are large, flatted, 
and tough 5 and each contains feveral feeds. 
Tc is a fearce plant. It has been found in woods 
in Kent and Suffex, and in Buckingham hire, Tt 
‘flowers early in fpring. 
Tt has the virtues of ‘Black bellebore, but in an 
inferior dégree.” ees : 
Our country-people give a little of the pow- 
dered root to their children againft worms; but 
it is too rough a medicine. The leaves dried and 
-powdered are taken for the fame purpofe ; and 
an infufion of the flowers is faid to be a prefer- 
iB Rely iyly Sabu SePePaCulabes: 
vative againft contagious difeafes. It isa very 
harfh medicine, and fhould be given with caution. 
C. Bauhine calls this Helleborafter niger borten« 
Jis flore viridis others, Helleborafrum, 
2. Great wild Hellebore. 
Helleborafter maximus. J 
The root is long, large, and furnithed with 
many: fibres. : 
The leaves are numerous, large, and’ beautié 
ful: they ftand on long footftalks, and are di- 
vided deep, in the manner of fingers: there are 
nine or more of the on each ftalk, or compofing 
each compleat leaf; They are of a bluifh green 
colour, ‘and glofly ;°and are very narrow, fharp- 
pointed, notched at the edges, and often turn in- 
ward at the ends, 
The'ftalk is a yard high : 
very thick, and full of leaves. : 
Thefe have their long’ footftalks like thofé 
from the root. Thofé on the lower part refemblé 
thofe of the root in form 3 but thofe near the top 
are fimple, not fingered; they are only divided inté 
two or three. irresular parts at the end. The 
flowers are very numerous, but not fo large as in 
the preceding : they are green, with a bluth of 
purple, principally on the outfide 3 and they have 
numerous threads, with whitebuttons in the centre, 
The feed yeflels jare many, ‘andthe feed is 
roundith, r 
It.is\ wild in fome parts of. Kent and Suffex, 
but is not common: 
{pring, 
it is green, round, 
The roots are a violent purge, and too harfh 
for inward ufe. 
The country-people .put Pieces. of them into 
holes cut in the ears, or other parts of their cattle, 
in many diforders 3,and they produce a difcharge, 
which often is ferviceable : they call thefe Setters, 
and the plant has thence been named among them 
JSetterwort, : : 
C. Bauhine calls it Helleborus niger fetidus en. 
neaphyllon Plinii; others, Helleborafter maximus. 
Both this and the former, as they are fcarce in 
their wild ftate; are kept by our country-people in 
gardens, where they call them both Lear’ s-foot. 
8 
DIVI- 
lt flowers very eat gi * 
