CROWFOOT FAMILY 



Of the genus Helleborus eight species are known and most of 

 them have been cultivated. Beside Helleborus niger, Helleborus 

 viridis is common. The insect powder in common use is made 

 from the stems and leaves of a plant called White Hellebore, but it 

 belongs to an entirely different genus and is known as Verhtrum 

 dlbum. 



NIGELLA. LOVE-IN-A-MIST 

 Nigllla damascena. 



Nigella, diminutive of niger, black; referring to the color of the 



•_i'. seeds.' 



A hardy annual from the Mediterranean regions. June to September. 



Stem. — Erect, one to two feet high. 



Leaves.— Alternnte, finely divided, bright-green. 



Flowers. — Showy, pale-blue or white, terminal on the branches, sur- 

 rounded by a finely divided involucre. Calyx of five sepals colored 

 like the petals. 



Corolla. — Five petals with hollow claws, notched or two-lobed, often 

 double. 



Stamens. — Many, inserted, on the receptacle. 



Pistil. — Five ovaries united below-,- which matures into a five-celled, 

 inflated pod in which the lining of the celfr separates from the outer part. 

 Seeds black, shining, spicy. 



Nigella is a flower of unusual appearance, a radiant star, blue 

 or white, that, sits enveloped in a green mist. Like so many of 

 the ranunculi,- the sepals and petals are the same in color and in 

 the double forms are fairly indistinguishable. Technically, the 

 envelopment of finely dissected leaves is involucre ; in the double 

 forms this involucre sometimes becomes entangled with the petals. 



The full rich stamens with anthers of warmer color than the 

 petals and the green pistils standing out in bold relief from the 

 centre give a certain touch of definiteness to the flower which 

 it otherwise would lack. The five petaloid sepals betray their 

 nature and their race by the delicate veining of faint-green lines; 

 and the deiinite points in which they terminate make the blos- 

 som a five-pointed star. The single varieties possess a distinction 



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