12 THE RANUNCULUS FAMILY. [ Helleborus.- 
Flowers usually 3 or 4. Sepals spreading . ; . 1. H. viridis. 
Flowers many, in a large a ge wae baci ovate bracts. Sepals 
converging. . . . 2. H. fetidus, — 
The Winter Aconite. (see p. 2) was réiihaely dime as a species of 
Helleborus, but now forms the genus Hranthis. It is a small plant, with 
narrow, petal-like, yellow sepals, surrounded by an involucre of green, 
divided leaves. The white Christmas Rose is a true Helleborus (H. niger) 
from south-eastern Europe. 
1, H. viridis, Linn. (fig. 26). Green H., Bear’s-foot.—Radical leaves 
large, on long stalks, divided into 7 to 11 oblong, acute, toothed segments, 3 
to 4 inches long, the central ones free, the lateral ones on each side connected 
together at the base so as to form a pedate leaf. Stem scarcely exceeding 
the leaves, bearing usually 2, 3, or 4 large, drooping flowers of a pale yel- 
lowish-green, and at each ramification a sessile leaf, much less divided than 
the radical ones, and the segments usually digitate. 
In pastures and thickets, especially in calcareous soils, and about old walls 
and ruins in western and central Europe, but not extending to the eastern 
frontier, nor far to the north. A native of the south and south-east of 
England, and naturalized elsewhere. /'l. early spring. 
2. H. foetidus, Linn. (fig. 27). Hetid H., Setter-wort.—Lower leaves not 
all radical, but mostly raised on the short perennial base of the stems, forming 
a larger and thicker tuft than in #. viridis, their segments narrower, less 
toothed, stiffer, and more shining, their outer lobes at a less distance from 
the central ones. Flower-stem above a foot high, with a large, close panicle 
of drooping flowers, of a pale green, often tinged with purple, the concave 
sepals giving them a globular form. Bracts at the ramifications of the 
panicle ovate and entire, or shortly two-lobed at the summit. 
In stony places, chiefly in limestone districts, in southern Europe, ex- 
tending here and there into central Europe, but neither a northern nor an 
eastern plant. In England, it is wild in Hampshire and Sussex, but, like 
the last, it is in most cases an introduced plant. Fl. early spring. 
X. AQUILEGIA. COLUMBINE. 
Perennial herbs, with the leaves chiefly radical, ternately divided, with 
distinct stalked segments or leaflets. Sepals 5, coloured. Petals 5, each 
terminating below in a horn-shaped spur, projecting below the calyx. Sta- 
mens numerous. Carpels 5, each with several seeds. 
A small but very distinct genus, widely spread over the north temperate 
regions of both hemispheres, especially in mountain districts. 
1, A. vulgaris, Linn.(fig.28). Common C.—Radical and lower leavesin | 
a large tuft, each witha long stalk, once, twice, or even three times ternately 
divided, the segments broad, 3-lobed and crenate, of a glaucous-green, gla- 
brous, or with a few hairs underneath. Flower-stem 13 to 2 feet or more 
high, bearing a loose panicle with a few leaves at its ramifications much 
large, greenish (in the British spraidly, remaining till the fruit is nearly 4 
ripe. Real petals 8 to 10, very small, tubular, 2-lobed at the top. Stamens 
numerous. Carpels several, rather large, each with several seeds. 
A well-marked genus, but not numerous in species, chiefly south Euro- 
pean and west Asiatic. 
