, a aac | sdvided.ine, Aptih 
oft diftiné on the Out- the F jlaments ; its Stigma, or Top, is ip 
Tet Cop *. Sa to three Parts; and fo is the faceceding. Seed- noel 
leat ti brighteft withi 
fide of the Flower D* u t cy are ngs Ds, Vettel, aed on the Surface {mooth. 
here the green is alfo lefs feen. This is the 
pee oi this it preferves without Va- The Characters of the Clafs are obvious ; fix: 
4 | Filaments and a fingle Style, fhew. the Plant of. 
riation. 
ci if the Flower, is the fame | the Hexandria Monogynia., the fixth of the Lins, 
tay a nian Clafles, and the firft Seétion. | 
A. Apri 
as in the other Fritillaries. It confifts of fix large 
Et. 31. 
Fig. 5 
Petals, and is of a Bell like Shape, ie a broad 
Bafe. 
Thefe rife naked: from the Stalk, as in the 
Tulip, without any Kind of Cup, and near the 
Bafe of each, within there is a fmall Hollow, 
containing a Honey-juice, the Neétarium of the 
Flower. 
Of this Part, we have had frequent Occafion 
to fpeak in the preceding Pages: often it is plac’d | 
| fingularly and ftrangely, as in the Paffion-Flower, - 
where it crowns the Whole, and in the Narciffus, 
_where it is moft confpicuous. 
. Here it is in its natural Condition, and thus we 
sg it in the Lilly, and many other Plants, and | 
in the Berbery Shrub. | 
It is an oblong hollow, and never is without 
its proper Content, a Drop of fweet Juice, 
which is indeed true Honey. 
The Bees colle& this, not make it, as the 
Vulgar have fuppofed; and Men of Curiofity 
: hice: done the Office for them. 
In the Center of the Flower rife fix Filaments: 
they ftand clofe about the Style, and they have 
large, oblong, and {quare Buttons. 
The Style itfelf rifes fingle, from a three cor- 
ner’d Rudiment, and is flender and longer. than 
The Gardener knows, we hope, that this isa more 
proper Denomination of what he calls the Chrifimas 
Flower ; a Name in fome Seafons it not amifs de- 
ferves, tho’ in others, ’twill be as late as this Time 
before it opens its vaft Flower; whofe Continu- 
ance has a Right to our Regard, as well as its 
‘Size: thefe, with the Time of its Flowering, 
give it a Claim in every curious Garden ; which 
its hardy Nature, and its Bay Culture very well 
fupport. 
_ The earlier Writers were all acquainted with it. 
Indeed, a Plant fo fingular and confpicuous, a | Ground , but the ‘Clufter of Leaves cenerally 
feen together, the FirmnefS of every Part, and’ 
Eaft, and thrutting up its huge Flower through | the Bignefs. of the F lower payors attract Atten- 
| toRR.s <> : 
. They have called it, Helleborus niger, Helleborus | 
les. Helleborus flore rofeo; and hence our E- | black Fibres, long, tough, and varioufly entan- 
Native of almoft every Part of Europe, and the 
the Snow, could not have efcaped Obfervation. 
glifo Names of true Hellebore, Rofe Hellebore, 
and the reft. 
‘Thefe Authors had the Accuracy to obferve, 
_ that the Diftinction in the Colour of the Flower 
was accidental, and to be confidered only as a 
‘Variation of the fame Plant. 
Joun BauHINE names it thence, flore albo, in- 
terdum etiam valde rubente, with the Flower white, 
5 BLACK HELLEBORE.- 
Culture of this Frrriuiary. 
‘We have obferved this is no more than a ferni- 
nal Variety of the common purple Fritillary 
and that it rifes among many others, when the 
Seeds are fown, for 2 Saeteateit of new or fine 
Flowers. 
This therefore is its original Production s 
and of this we fhall treat at large, ms the 
Culture of the finer Varieties: 
When the Plants of this Kind are feparated 
| from the reft of the Seedlings, they muft be pro- 
pagated farther by Off-fets from the Root. 
Thefe may be taken off once in ‘three Years ; 
and planted at cight Inches Diftance, in frefh 
Beds; the larger will flower the firft Year after 
the Removal; the others according to their 
Size, the fecond or the third. 
They muft be taken off from the old 1 Roots, 
when the Leaves are decayed, and planted again 
| immediately ; as muft alfo the old Roots, for it 
is very prejudicial to them, to lie out of the 
Ground. The Soil for this Kind fhould be two 
Thirds rich Garden Mould,.and one Third pafture 
Earth. 
and fometimes ftionglp dngta with reds but we 
have feen it fince diftinguifhed as two Plants. 
Linnaus gives. its Characters in his fpetifick 
Name; this in his Chiffort Garden is, Helleborus 
fcapo ‘fonifere Sub-nudo petiole’ communi bipartito ; 
Hellebore, with the Flower-ftalk almoft naked, . 
and with the main Foot-Stalk of the Leaf ial 
vided into two Parts. 
In his later Writings he ids ‘been more 
minute, but this is moft expreffive. 
The Plant rifes to no great Height from the 
The Root is compofed of innumerable, thick, 
gled; rifing from a fmall Head, and fpreading 
every Way to a vaft Diftance. 
: a 
The Leaves are large and numerous, and are - 
divided in that coarfe fingered Method, which 
modern Botany calls pedated. 
‘? here cannot be a better Example, by which 
to explain that Term. 
fingle and undivided, and from its Extremity 
there 
When a Foot-ftalk is - 
