<?7 8 Of the Hiftorie of Plants. L 1 b. 2 . 
feeds muft be put vnto it : bat if you would haue it ftronger, adde thereunto a grain or two of Sca- 
monie. Thus much Act nanus. 
D The firft of th ( efe kindcs is beff, then the fecond ; the reft are of lefle force. 
E The roots takeaway the morphew and blacke fpots in the skin, tetters, ring- wormcs, leprofies 
and fsabs. ’ ' 
F The root fodden in pottage with flefh, openeth the bellies of fuel] as haue the dropfie. 
G Therootofbaftard Hellebor, called among our Englifh women Beare-foot, rteeped in wine 
and drunken, loofeth the belly eucn as the true blacke Hellebor, and is good againft all the difea- 
fes whereunto blacke Hellebor ferueth, and killeth wormes in children. 
H It doth his operation with more force and might, if it be made into pouder, and a dram thereof 
bereceiued in wine. 
I The fame boyled in water with Rue and Agrimony, cureth the jaundice, and purgeth yellow fu- 
perfluities by (lege. 
K The leaues of baftard Hellebor dried in an ouen, after the bread is drawne out, and the pouder 
thereof taken in a figge or raifin, or ftrawed vpon a piece of bread fpred with honey and eaten, kil- 
leth wormes in children exceedingly. 
Chap, yj 8. Of Diojcorides bis blacke He lie lor. 
Aftrantianigra, fine Vcratrum nigrum Diofcoridis, Dod. The Defcription t 
Blacke Mafter-worts,or Viofcoridcs his blacke Hellebor. 
r 'F _, His kinde of blacke Hellebor, fet forth by 
I Lohelvnder the name of Apr anti a nigra , a- 
greeth very well in fhape with the true A- 
firarttia, which is called Imperatona : neuertheles 
by the confent of Diofcondcs and other Authors, 
who haue exprefted this plant for a kinde of Ve- 
ratrum nigrum, or blacke Hellebor, it hath many 
blackifti green leaues parted or cut into fo ire or 
fine deepe cuts, after the maner of the vineleafe 
very like vnto thofe of Sanicle, both in greennes 
of colour, and alfo in proportion. Theftaike is 
euen,fmooth, and plain : at the top wherof grow 
floures it little tufts or vmbels , fet together 
like thofe of Scabious,ofawhitifhlightgreene 
colour, dafhed oner as it were with a little darke 
purple : after which come the feed like vnto Car- 
thamus or baftard Saffron. The roots are many 
blackifh threds knit to one head or mafter root. 
% The Place. 
Blacke Hellebor is found in the mountains of 
Germany, and in other vntilled and rough pla- 
ces: it profpereth in gardens. 
Diofcorides writeth , That blacke Hellebor 
groweth likewile in rough and dry places : and 
that is the belt which is taken from fuch like 
places - as that (faith hee) which is brought out 
ofAnticyraa city in Greece. It groweth inmy 
garden. 
( *j The Time. 
F T" hls blacke Hellebor flowreth not in Winter, but in the Sommer moneths. The herb is green 
all the yeare thorow. 
The Names. 
It is called of the later Herbarifts, Aftrantin nigra of others, Saniculafeemina : notwithftanding 
it differeth much from Aflrantia, an herbe which is alfo named Zmperatona, or Mafter- wort. The 
vulgar people call it Pelhtorie of S paine, but vntruly : it may be called blacke Maftcr-wort, yet 
doubtleflc a kinde of Hellebor, as the purging facultie doth fhew:for it is certaine, that diners 
experienced phyfitians can witne(Ie,that the roots hereofdo purge melancholy and other humors, 
v and 
