358 The Hellebore. 



HELLEBORUS— THE HELLEBORE. 



Natural Order, Ranunculacese ; Linnsean System, Polyandria, Polygyny 

 Generic Distinctions :— Sepals, five, persistent, roundish, obtuse, large, 

 usually green ; petals, from eight to ten, tubular, nectariferous ; stigmas 

 orbicular ; capsules, coriaceous. 



H. niger.— Radical leaves, pedate, quite smooth; scape, leafless, bearing 

 one or two flowers and bracts.— Plate 36, Fig. 1. 



H. lividus.— Stem, many-flowered, leafy; leaves, ternate, smooth, glaucous 

 beneath ; segments, ovate-lanceolate.— Plate 36, Fig 2. 



The species of Hellebore are perennial plants, with a lea- 

 thery texture, and a very disagreeable smell ; generally ever- 

 green, and flowering very early in spring. They have a 

 creeping under-ground stem, the fibrous roots proceeding from 

 which are the parts used in medicine. They are all poisonous; 

 though in small doses one or two species are administered as 

 cathartics. The name, Helleborus, alludes to their dangerous 

 qualities, and signifies " deadly food." 



H. niger is very commonly cultivated in England, where 

 it is called the Christmas Rose. "Every one," says Mrs. 

 Loudon, " knows that first harbinger of spring, the Christmas 

 Rose, though but few people are aware how very well it looks 

 as a window plant. In the open air, the delicate texture of its 

 flowers is often injured by the frost or melting snow, which so 

 often covers the ground at the dreary season when it appears ; 

 but when kept in a sheltered place, such as a room or a green- 

 house, it becomes a very ornamental plant. The calyx of the 

 Christmas Rose, consists of five large, white sepals, which 

 are delicately tinged with pink. The petals are small and 

 tubukr, but not^rnamental, as they are of a dingy green. 

 They are, however, little seen, as they are nearly hidden by 

 the numerous stamens which surround the eight or ten carpels 

 that grow erect and close together in the centre of the flower. 

 The involucre consists of two large bracts, which shade the 

 flower in the bud, so as to resemble a green calyx. The 

 leaves are very deeply cut, and the segments are disposed in 

 a palmate manner, so as to look like separate leaflets. The 



