Spotted Hellebore; Nat. Ord. Ranunculaceæ.
This is one of the newer species or varieties; its main distinction is well implied by the specific name. The flowers are fully 2in. across, and white; the sepals are spotted with purple; the petals are more constant than in some species, and of a rich green colour; flowers are produced on stems having the floral leaf; the buds are a greenish white, but very beautiful. The foliage is smaller than that of most kinds; the leaves are radical, rather short-stalked, pedate, and divisions narrow; they are of a leathery substance and a dark green colour. This is a free bloomer, a fact which, together with those of its winter-blooming habit and distinct flowers, renders it a valuable acquisition to the open garden. Either cut or growing, it is very lasting.
Cultivation, as for H. Abchasicus.
Flowering period, January to March.
Helleborus Niger.
Black Hellebore, or Christmas Rose; Nat. Ord. Ranunculaceæ.
A hardy, herbaceous perennial. It came from Austria in 1597. In favoured situations it proves evergreen; there is nothing black to be seen about a growing plant, and it has often puzzled its admirers as to the cause of its specific name, which is in reference to the black roots of a year or more old. It would appear, moreover, that this is not the true "Black Hellebore" of the ancients (see remarks under H. Orientalis). This "old-fashioned" flower is becoming more and more valued. That it is a flower of the first quality is not saying much, compared with what might be said for it; and, perhaps, no plant under cultivation is capable of more improvement by proper treatment (see Fig. 48). Soil, position, and tillage may all be made to bear with marked effect on this plant, as regards size and colour of flowers and season of bloom. We took its most used common name—Christmas Rose—from the Dutch, who called it Christmas Herb, or Christ's Herb, "because it flowereth about the birth of our Lord Iesus Christ," and we can easily imagine that its beautiful form would suggest the other part of its compound name, "rose." In sheltered parts, where the soil is deep and rich, specimens will grow a foot high and begin to bloom in December, continuing until March.
The individual flowers last a long time in perfection, either on the plant or in a cut state; they vary somewhat in their colour, some being more brown on the outer side of the sepals, and others much suffused with pink; but under glass, whether in the shape of a bell glass in the open garden, or a greenhouse, they mature to a pure white; their form is somewhat like that of a single rose, but may be more properly compared to a flower of its own order—the single pæonia. It is composed of five sepals, and is 2in. to 3in. across, being white or rose-coloured; these sepals form a corolla-like calyx; the petals are very short and tubular, nestling down amongst the tassel-like bunch of stamens; the flowers are produced on stout leafless scapes, having one or two bracteæ; for the most part the flowers are in ones or pairs, but sometimes there may be seen three, and even four, on a scape. The leaves are radical, having stout, round stalks; they are large and pedate in shape, stout, and of leathery substance. The habit of the plant is neat, growing into rounded tufts.
