The (jarden of p/ealant t lowers. 
downe thecaufes, reafons, and ertours, were to tpend more rime then i in- 
tend for this workc. Wee call them in Englilh, Peonie, and diftinguifli 
them according to their titles. 
TheVcrtues. 
The male Peony roote is farre aboue all the reft a moft Angular appro- 
ued remedy forall Epilepticall difeafes , in Englifb, The falling ficknefle 
(and more efpccially the greene roote then the d ry j if the difeafe be nor too 
inueterate, to be boy led and drunke, as alfo to hang about the neckes 6f the 
younger fort that are troubled herewith, as I haue tound it (utficiently expe- 
rimented on many by diuers. The feede likewife is of efpeciall vie for wo- 
men, for the riling of the mother. The feede of the female kinde , as well 
as the rootes, are moft vfually fold , and may in want of the other be (and 
fo are generally) vfed. 
Chap.LXXXI. 
tieHcborta niger. Beares foote. 
T Herc are three forts of blaclce Hcllebor or Beares foote, one that is the true and 
right kinde, whofe flowers haue the moft beautifull afpedt, and the time of his 
flowring moft rare, that is, in the deepe of Winter about Chriftmas , when no 
other can bee leenevpon the ground: and two other that are wilde or baftard kindes, 
brought into many Gardens for their Phyficall properties j but I will only ioyne one 
of them with the true kinde in this worke, and leaue the other for another. 
I . Hellebores niger verus. The true blackc Hcllebor, 
or Chriftmas flower. 
The true blacke Hellebor (or Bcare foote as fome would call it, but that name doth 
more fitly agree with the other two baftard kindes) hath many faire greene leaues ri- 
fing from the roote, each of them Handing on a thicke round flelhly ftiffe green ftalke, 
about an hand breadth highftom the ground, diuided into feuen, eight, or nine parts 
or leaues, and each of them nicked or dented,from the middleof the leafe to the point- 
ward on both fides, abiding all the Winter , at which time the flowers rife vp on fuch 
Ihort thicke ftalkcs as the leaues Hand on, cuery one by it felfe, without any leafe 
thereon for the moft parr , or very feldome hauing one fmall fnort leafe not much vn- 
derthe flower, and very little higher then the leanes themfclues, conliftingof fiue 
broad white leaues , like vnto a great white Angle Rofc(whichfometimeschangeto 
be either lefle or more purple about the edges , as the weather or time of continuance 
doth effedl) with many pale yellow thrumraes in the middle , (landing about a greene 
head, which after groweth to haue diuers cods fet together, poinredatthe endslike 
homes, fomewhat like the feede velfels of the Aconitum hyem&lc, but greater & thicker, 
wherein is contained long, round, and blackifh feede , like the feede of the baftard 
kindes : the rootes are a number of brownifh firings running downe deepe into the 
ground, and fattened to a thicke head, of the bigneile of a finger at the toppe manie 
times,and fmaller ftill downewards. 
2 . HeRebortJler minor. The Idler baftard blacke Hellebor, or Beare foote. 
The fmaller Beare foote is in moft things like vnto the former true blacke Hellebor; 
for it beareth alfo many leaues vponfhortftalkes, diuided into many leaues alfo, buc 
each of them are long and narrow, ofa blacker greene colour, fnipt or dented on both 
edges, which feele fomewhat hard or fliarpe like prickes,andperi(heueryyeare, but 
rife againe the next Spring : the flowers hereof (land on higher ftalkcs, with tome 
leaues on them alfo, although but very few, and arc'of a pale greene colour, like ia 
forme 
