OF ORNAMENTAL PERENNIALS. 
27 
calyx. The leaves are very deeply cut, and the segments are disposed in a palmate manner, so as to look like 
separate leaflets. The species takes its name from the black bark of its underground stem. It is a native of 
the Apennines, whence it was introduced before 1596. It will grow in any soil or situation ; but it prefers a 
dry soil, and a situation open to the sun. It is propagated by dividing the underground stem in summer, after 
the leaves have decayed. There are three kinds of Christmas rose : the species, which has broad leaves, and 
is the most common ; a variety with narrow leaves, which is sometimes called Helleborus niger angtis- 
ti/olius ; and the third, which is figured in Sweet's British Flower Garden, and called there H. n. vernalis, 
and which does not flower till February or March. 
2.— HELLEBORUS VIRIDIS Lin. THE GREEN HELLEBORE 
almost sessile, palmate j peduncles generally bifid ; sepals roundisli, 
ovate, green. (G. Don.) 
Engiuvings.— Eng. Bot. t. 200; 2d ed. t. 800. 
SpEciyic CniKACTEK. — Radical leaves very smooth, caulinc ones 
Description, &c. — This plant differs considerably from the Christmas rose, not only in the colour of its 
flowers, which are green, but in its leafy stems, in the slender lobes of its leaves, which are sharply serrated, and 
in its carpels, of which there are only three, adhering together — while in the Christmas rose the flower-stem is 
devoid of leaves, except the involucral bracts, and there are eight or ten carpels which are quite distinct. The 
green hellebore is rather ornamental, notwithstanding the colour of its flowers. Tiiis species is a native of 
England, and of various parts of France, Italy, and Germany, where it is generally found in woods and thickets, 
growing in a chalky soil. It is often cultivated in gardens, and it looks exceedingly well in shrubberies, as it 
grows from a foot and a half to two feet high ; but it has a disagreeable smell like that of elder-flowers. It is 
propagated by seeds, or by division of the root. 
3.-HELLEB0RUS ODORUS Wolds, et Kit. THE SWEET-SCENTED HELLEBORE. 
Engravings. — Bot. Reg. t, 1643 ; and ouT^g. 3 in Plate 7. 1 under surface ; segments oblong, undivided, quite entire at the base, but 
Specific Character. — Radical leaves palmate, pubescent on the I serrated at the apex. Stem bifid. Sepals ovate-oblong, acutish, green. 
Description, &c. — This species bears considerable resemblance to H. viridis, but the flowers are larger and 
handsomer; the leaves are broad and glossy, and the plant has an agreeable fragrance. It is a native of 
Hungary, whence it was introduced about 1830. It is quite hardy, and appears to grow freely in any soil ; but 
it is said to thrive best in peat. 
4.— HELLEBORUS PURPURASCENS Walds. et Kit. THE PURPLISH HELLEBORE, 
OR BEAR'S-FOOT, 
three to five-lobed at the apex ; stem two-flowered ; floral leaves 
almost sessile ; sepals roundish, coloured. (O. Don.) 
Engraving.— Swt. Brit. Flow. Card., 2d Ser. t. 142. 
Specific Character. — Radical leaves pubescent on the under 
surface, palmate, with the segments cuncated at the base, and from 
Description, &c.— This species is a native of Hungary, and it is said there to have handsome purple flowers : 
those of the specimen figured in Sweet are, however, of so dingy a hue as to be not at all ornamental. The 
plant was introduced in 1817; hut it is very rarely to be met with. There is a variety, H.p. Bocconi, 
which is sometimes called a distinct species ; but the principal difierence consists in the stem being longer 
than the leaves. 
E 2 
