HELLE'BORT'S ATROPURPU'REUS. 
DARK PURPLE HELLEBORE. 
Class. 
POLYANDRIA 
Order. 
POLYGYNIA. 
Natural Order. 
ranuncllacea:. 
Native of j Height. 
Flowers in 
Duration. 
N. Europe ti inches. 
April. 
Perennial. 
Introduced 
in 1844. 
No. 1087. 
The generic name. Helleborus, is compounded 
of two Greek words, ijelein, to cause death ; and 
bora, food ; hereby indicating its poisonous effects 
when taken into the stomach. 
Notwithstanding tire great beauty of many of the 
flowers belonging to the Natural Order Ranuncu- 
lacese, the whole should be regarded as possessing 
deleterious qualities. Dr. Lindley, in his Veget- 
able Kingdom, says “Acridity, causticity, and poi- 
son, are the general characters of this suspicious 
Order, which, however, contains species in which 
those qualities are so little developed, as to he innox- 
ious. The caustic principle is, according to Krap- 
fen, of a very singular nature, it is so volatile that, 
in most cases, simple drying, infusion in water, or 
boiling, are sufficient to dissipate it.” Our present 
plant belongs to, perhaps, the most active genus, 
but its own qualities are unknown in this country. 
This is an early -flowering plant, suitable for the 
borders, that may, from its dwarf habit, be planted 
near their edges, to succeed Ilepaticas, Scillas, and 
Crocuses, which constitute the first brilliant flush 
of spring. 
