Hellebore

Synonyms: helleborus, zimovnik, chemernik

Hellebore (Helleborus Tourn. L.) – a genus of perennial plants in the buttercup family (Ranunculáceae). It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 in Sp. Pl. 1: 557–558. The genus name comes from "hellebore" – an old Greek name for the plant, mentioned in the works of Hippocrates and other ancient Greek authors. In cultivation since the 16th century.

In the wild it occurs in the British Isles, Spain, Portugal, the Mediterranean region, Central Europe, Eastern Europe (Romania, Ukraine), and along the Black Sea coast of Turkey to the Caucasus.

It is a perennial herbaceous plant 30-35 cm high. It grows slowly but is long-lived; plantings remain decorative for more than 10 years. Rhizomes are strong, extending to a considerable depth. Stems erect, dense, robust, simple, often hollow.

Leaves evergreen, less often deciduous, basal and stem leaves. Basal leaves large, simple, pinnately (segmentally) divided, less often palmate or almost palmately divided, occasionally compound, usually coriaceous and glabrous, on long petioles, absent in some species. Stem leaves usually considerably reduced.

Flowers large, often more or less nodding, sometimes scented, terminal, solitary, or grouped in several in semi-umbels, or numerous in paniculate or monochasial, compound, large inflorescences, often with bracts. Perianth double. Sepals number 5 (6), large, petaloid, broadly ovate or elliptical, green or variously colored, forming a cup-shaped or flattened, less often bell-shaped corolla, persistent in fruit and falling only after seed ripening, usually in July. Petals usually equal in number to the sepals, modified into nectaries. Nectaries appear as a conical funnel lined internally with nectariferous tissue, small, tubular at the base, strongly expanded at the top, emarginate or extended into a lip, greenish. Stamens numerous, arranged spirally on a convex receptacle. Anthers yellow. Carpels number 3-10, free or fused at the base, opening along the inner suture, multi-seeded, becoming coriaceous at maturity. Blooms in the warm-temperate zone in January-February, in the temperate zone in April-May. Flowers appear before leafing, immediately after snowmelt.

Fruit — a follicetum (cluster of follicles).

Species: the genus comprises about 15 species. All are widely used in horticulture. Some of them:

• Helleborus argutifolius Viv. — holly-leaved hellebore
• Helleborus bocconei Ten. — Helleborus bocconei
• Helleborus croaticus Martinis
• Helleborus dumetorum Waldst. & Kit. — shrubby hellebore
• Helleborus foetidus L. — stinking hellebore
• Helleborus lividus Aiton — Helleborus lividus
• Helleborus ×mucheri Rottenst.
• Helleborus multifidus Vis. — many-divided hellebore
• Helleborus niger L. — black hellebore
• Helleborus odorus Waldst. & Kit. — sweet-scented hellebore
• Helleborus odorus subsp. cyclophyllus (A.Braun) Strid
• Helleborus orientalis Lam. — oriental hellebore
• Helleborus orientalis subsp. abchasicus (A.Braun) B.Mathew — Abkhazian hellebore
• Helleborus purpurascens Waldst. & Kit. — purplish hellebore
• Helleborus serbicus Adamović
• Helleborus thibetanus Franch.
• Helleborus vesicarius Aucher ex Boiss.
• Helleborus viridis L. — green hellebore

Hardiness zone: 4 (-30°C).

Location: Tolerant of shade, prefers partial shade under the canopy of deciduous trees or near shrubs in cool but sheltered corners of the garden. Moisture-loving; on dry sites it loses ornamental value, but does not tolerate prolonged waterlogging or stagnation of water on heavy soils. During the growing period it prefers moderately moist soils; in summer it can grow on moderately dry soils, but soil drying out should be avoided. Not demanding for fertility, grows well on any cultivated soils, but is most vigorous and ornamental on light, loose, well-drained, humus-rich, non-acidic loams. Most species respond well to the addition of lime to the soil.

Planting: carried out in spring or autumn, in pre-dug holes measuring 25x25x25 cm, at a distance of about 30 cm from each other. Fill the holes with soil mixed with compost in a 1:1 ratio. An ideal location is under the crowns of apple or other trees.

Care: in hot and dry periods it is recommended to provide plants with moderate but regular watering, or, which is more beneficial for the plants, regularly mulch the soil with compost or well-decomposed peat after flowering.

Propagation: By seed and division. Because of winter flowering, insects rarely pollinate hellebore flowers, and stigmas often freeze out, so seeds are formed very rarely. Sow seeds immediately after collection or in spring after stratification, in boxes with loose humus soil to a depth of about 1 cm. Seeds germinate with difficulty; seedlings often appear only after a year. Seedlings are pricked out at the 1-2 leaf stage into beds in semi-shaded parts of the garden at a distance of 20 cm from each other. Transplant seedlings to their permanent place in the 3rd-4th year after sowing. Seedlings flower in 4-5 years. Usually plants are propagated vegetatively. Division of clumps is done no more often than once every 7-10 years, preferably in autumn, in August-September. In spring, immediately after flowering, propagation by rhizome cuttings is possible.

Pests and diseases: practically not affected.

Uses: Ornamental perennials that flower very early in spring, immediately after snowmelt, forming a low spreading cover of large, ornamental, often evergreen basal leaves, first decorated with showy flowers and then with even more ornamental, large clusters of follicles surrounded by sepals persistent until seed ripening. Suitable for single and group plantings under a sparse canopy of deciduous trees or near shrubs, in mixed borders, on rock gardens. Good cut flower. Poisonous.