i 577 



EI)C Crraguru at 3Sotang. 



[hell 



ray florets : but the florets are all tubular 

 , and minute, yellow or purple, usually per- 

 : feet, a few of the outer ones sometimes 



female. 

 i H. humile, well known as Aphelexis liu- 

 miUs in greenhouses, is one of the most 

 j handsome South African species. Its 

 i much-branched whip-like stems, clothed 

 with compressed leaves, are terminated by 

 alarge handsome deep rose-coloured flower- 

 head, expanding only in sunshine. An- 

 other remarkable African species, H. exi- 

 mium, has sessile elliptical leaves clothed 

 like the stems with close cottony wool, and 

 having the consistence of the ears of some 

 animal : and its flower-heads, disposed in 

 corymbs at the ends of the branches, are of 

 a vivid purple, not unlike those of the globe 

 amaranth. H. incanum is a beautiful little 

 Australian species a foot high growing in 

 tufts, the flower-heads having the outer 

 scales purple, and the inner ones white; 

 this plant is known as Native Amaranth 

 in Tasmania 



The name 'Everlasting flower' is promis- 

 cuously applied to the plants of this genus 

 and their allies. Bouquets of them are 

 sometimes seen, and when well selected 

 and tastefully arranged, they look extreme- 

 ly beautiful, preserving their colour for 

 a long period, especially if kept from dust 

 by a glass shade. [A. A. B.] 



HELLEBORE. Helleborus. — , AME- 

 RICAN WHITE. Veratrum viride. — , 

 BLACK. Helleborus niger. — , BLACK, of 

 the ancients. Helleborus officinalis. — , 

 FALSE. An American name for Veratrum. 

 — , STINKING. Helleborus fcetidus. —, 

 SWAMP. Veratrum viride. — , WHITE. 

 Veratrum album. — , WINTER. Eranthus 

 hyemalis. 



HELLEBORE A FLEURS ROSE. (Fr.) 

 Helleborus niger. 



HELLEBORINE. Epipactis. 



HELLEBORINE. (Fr.) Serapias Lingua. 



HELLEBORUS. A Latinised form of an 

 old Greek name applied to some plants of 

 this genus, and significant of their injuri- 

 ous or poisonous effects when eaten. The 

 genus is included among the Ranunculacece, 

 and consists of perennial low-growing 

 plants with palmate or pedate leathery 

 leaves, five persistent sepals, eight to ten 

 tubular petals two-lobed at the top, and 

 several carpels each with many seeds. 



The species, for the most part, are found 

 in Southern Europe and Central Asia. 

 Among the best known is the Christmas 

 Rose, H. niger, a common plant in gardens, 

 where it blooms in winter and early spring. 

 Its leaves are pedate, dark, shining, and 

 smooth, and the flower-stalk rises directly 

 from the root, bearing one or two flowers 

 and as many bracts ; the sepals are large, 

 white or pinkish, and petal-like, the true 

 petals being greenish and tubular. The 

 plant probably derives its name of Black 

 Hellebore from its dark-coloured rootstock 

 and the numerous fibres proceeding from it. 

 These roots are occasionally used in medi- 



cine as a powerful cathartic, but its vio- 

 lent narcotic and acrid properties preclude 

 its general use. The Black Hellebore used 

 by the Greeks has been determined by Dr. 

 Sibthorp to be H. officinalis, a handsome 



Helleborus niger (flower). 



plant with a branching stem, bearing nu- 

 merous serrated bracts, and three to five 

 whitish flowers. It is a native of Greece, 

 Asia Minor, &c. According to Pliny, Black 



Helleborus niger (leaf). 



Hellebore was used as a purgative in 

 mania by Melampus, a soothsayer and phy- 

 sician, 1,400 years before Christ : hence the 

 name Melampodium has been applied to 

 the Hellebores. 



Two species are found wild in many parts 

 of England, especially on a limestone soil, 

 though it is a matter of doubt whether they 

 may not have been introduced at some 

 former time. H. fcetidus, the Bear'sfoot, 

 has numerous flowers in a large loosely 

 spreading panicle, with numerous bracts 

 frequentfy exhibiting every intermediate 

 form between the ordinary divided leaf of 

 the plant and the ovate undivided light 

 green bract. The flowers are globular, from 

 the sepals converging at their extremities ; 

 their sepals are green edged with pink. 

 It is a handsome plant, and finds a place in 

 shrubberies from its ornamental character. 

 H. viridis, the Green Hellebore, is a smaller 

 plant with fewer flowers ; the sepals are 



