CROWFOOT FAMILY 



CHRISTMAS ROSE 



HelUborus nlger. 



An ancient name of unknown meaning. 



A stemless, evergreen perennial; often blooming in the open air at 

 Christmas, in the climate of New Jersey and Ohio. 



Rootslock. — Short, thick, black. 



Flower Stem. — Simple or once branched. 



Leaves. — Radical, evergreen, leathery, irregularly lobed; petiole five 

 to seven inches "long. 



Flowers.— Large, white, sometimes flushed with purple; of leathery 

 texture, two to three inches across. 



Calyx. — Five petal-like sepals. 



Corolla. — Five small, tubular petals. 



Stamens. — Many. 



Pistil. — Six to eight carpels, forming many-seeded capsules. 



Christmas Rose, or Black Hellebore, as it is called from the 

 color of its root, is a perennial plant growing spontaneously on 

 the rocky and wooded mountains of many parts of Europe, es- 

 pecially the southern Alps and the Apennines. Cultivated in our 

 gardens as an ornamental plant and in mild seasons blooming 

 from December to March with very slight protection, it has gained 

 the name of Christmas Rose. In northern Ohio on the lake shore, 

 in those open winters that are not infrequent, it blooms without 

 protection throughout December. In a cold frame it will bloom 

 all winter unless zero weather intervenes. Any weather which 

 will permit the lowly chickweed to open its corollas to the mid- 

 day sun will bring forth the Christmas Rose. The large, irregu- 

 larly lobed leaves spring directly from the rootstock on long, 

 smooth, cylindrical petioles, which are sometimes dotted with 

 red. The beauty of the blossom is due to the enlarged sepals — 

 there are indeed petals, rows of them, but they are curiously turned 

 into two-lipped tubes producing nectar. The stigmas mature be- 

 fore the anthers. 



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