in 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._
RANUNCULACEAE.

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 greenho