32 The B R I T I S H H E R B A L. 
SERIES I. 
iSfaihes o/" B r i t a i 
Thofe of which one or more fpecies are naturally wild in this country. 
GENUS L 
BLACK HELLEBORE. 
HELLEBORUS NIGER, 
BLack hellebore has fingered leaves ; and large flowers, compofed of iive roundifli petals ; and thefg 
have no cup. In the centre fland numerous threads, v^ich upright flatted buttons, and the ru- 
diments of feveral capfules, which when ripe are large, and comprelFed, and contain roundifh feeds. 
It is one of the polyandria foly^nia of Linnceus. 
DIVISION L BRITISH SPECIES. 
I. Small wild Hellebore, 
Hellehorajler niger flors firidi. 
The root is a tuft of thick, numerous, black 
fibres. 
The firfl; leaves fl:and on long footfl:alks ; and 
are large, of a deep 'green, and divided into feveral 
parts, in the manner of fingers : thefe are each 
of them long, narrow, fharp-pointed, and deeply 
ferrated at the edges. 
The ftalks are numerous, and about a foot 
high: they are round, green, firm, and upright. 
The leaves on thefe are few : they refemble 
thofe from the root ; but are fmallcr, and have 
ihort footftalks ; often none. 
The flowers ftand at the tops of the branches, 
and very large and fingular : they have no cup: 
they are green, but paler than the leaves ; and 
they have a great number of threads, with white 
buttons in their centre. 
The fecd-vefllls appear among thefe, and after- 
wards ripen ; the flower not falling, but remain- 
ing with them. 
Some have hence faid that it is properly a cup, 
and that this plant has no flower. It is true, that 
the flov^er of this plant does not agree with their 
definitions of a flower, which fay that it muft: be 
compofed of leaves differently coloured from thofe 
of the plant, and that they mull fall off" before the 
feed ripens ; but nature is more certain than their 
characters- The flower of the wild kelkhort is truly 
fuch ; and all we learn by their nice diftinftions is, 
that their definition is imperfect : that fhould be 
altered ; not this fl:ruck out of the lift of flowers. 
I'he pods, when ripened, are large, flatted, 
and tough ; and each contains feveral feeds. 
It is a fcarce plant. It has been found in woods 
in Kent and Suflex, and in Buckinghamfliire. It 
flowers early in fpring. 
It has the virtues of black hellebore, but in an 
inferior degree. 
Our country-people give a little of the pow- 
dered root to their children againfl: worms ; but 
it is too rough a medicine, The leaves dried and 
powdered are taken for the famepurpofe; and 
an infufioa of the flowers is faid to be a prefer- 
vative againfl; contagious difeafes. It is a very 
harfh medicine, and fhould be given with caution. 
C. Bauhine calls this Helleborafier niger horten- 
fn fiore vindi ; others, HelUborafirum. 
2. Great wild Hellebore. 
Helleborafier maximus. 
The root is long, large, and furnifhed with 
many fibres. 
The leaves are numerous, large, and beauti- 
ful : they fland on long footflialks, and are di- 
vided deep, in the manner of fingers: there are 
nine or more of thefe on each flalk, or compofing 
each compleat leaf. They are of a bJuifh green 
colour, and glolfy j and are very narrow, fliarp- 
pointed, notched at the edges, and often turn in- 
ward at the ends. 
The flialk is a yard high : it is green, round, 
very thick, and full of leaver. 
Thefe have their long footftalks like thofe 
from the root. 1 hofe on the lower part refemble 
thofe of the root in form ; bur thofe near the top 
are fimple, not fingered; they are only divided into 
two or three irregular parts at the end. The 
flowers are very numerous, but not fo large as in 
the preceding : they are green, with a blufh of 
purple, principally on the outfide ; and they have 
numerous threads, with whitebuttons in the centre. 
The feed vcffels are many, and the feed is 
roundifli. 
It is wild in fume parts of Kent and SufTex, 
but is not common. It flowers very 'early in. 
fpring. 
The roots are a violent purge, and too harfh 
for inward ufe. 
The country-people put pieces of them into 
holes cut in the ears, or other parts of their cattle, 
in many diforders ; and they produce a difcharge, 
which often is ferviceable : they call thefe fetters, 
and the plant has thence been named among them 
fettcrzvryrt. 
C. Bauhine calls it Helleborus niger fcetidus en- 
neaphyll'jn Plinii ; others, Helleh or after maximus. 
Both this and the former, as they are fcarce in 
their wild ll:ate, are kept by our country-people In 
gardens, where they call them both bear's-foot. 
8 D I V I- 
