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Hellebore Varieties
Everybody's favourites are the Lenten hellebores. Most of these are grouped under the umbrella title of Helleborus hybridus now, although most of their blood comes from Helleborus orientalis. Restrict most gardeners to one type of hellebore and this would be the one they would plump for, simply because of the wide variety of flower colour and the long season of interest in the early months of the year. |
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 Thanks to plant breeders like the late Helen Ballard of Worcestershire and her followers, we now have a race of plants that is wonderfully varied in both flower colour and habit. Deep, dusky purples, pale primrose yellows, greens, pinks and whites are all available, and most of them are strong growers and good do-ers.
Strains are also being raised which have more upward-facing flowers so that the central boss of pale gold stamens can be more readily admired from a standing position. But somehow it is rather nice to see hellebores gracefully arching rather than gazing upwards like an expectant child. |
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Botanists use a number of characteristics to divide hellebores into groups of similar species.- Striking features of the structure of the plants, such as the presence of stems.
- Whether or not the individual carpels are joined to each other at the base.
- The shape and surface appearance of the pollen grains.
- The shape and size of the seeds.
- The ability of the plants to hybridise.
- Distinctive features of the leaves, such as the degree of dissection and their hairiness.
- Flower colour
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In general Hellebores experts have divided the genus into the following six sections:
Syncarpus The name refers to the fact that, uniquely among hellebores, the three carpels are joined together for half their length. This section contains just one species, Helleborus vesicarius, which is quite different from all other species. No hybrids involving this species are known.
Griphopus: The name is derived from gryphos (a gryphon) and pous (a foot) and relates to the resemblance between the narrow leaflets and the feet of a gryphon. This section also includes just one species, Helleborus foetidus. Occasional hybrids with the species in the following section have been recorded but are not fertile.
Chenopus: The name derives from the Greek chen (a goose) and pous (a foot) and describes the leaves, which are divided into three broad leaflets. The two other stemmed species, Helleborus argutifolius and Helleborus lividus, belong here. When crossed, the two species in this section produce fertile offspring. They have sometimes been treated as one species.
Helleborus: The ancient Greek name for the plant, and probably originally applied by them to Helleborus cyclophyllus. Much later, botanists made the very distinct Helleborus niger the type species of the genus, and so the section containing it must carry the genus name. Helleborus niger produces infertile offspring when crossed with the two species in the previous section.
Helleborastrum: The name indicates a similarity to, but not an exact likeness with, plants in the section Helleborus. This is by far the largest section and contains the following nine species, all of which cross with each other to give fertile offspring: Helleborus atrorubens, Helleborus croaticus, Helleborus cyclophyllus, Helleborus dumetorum, Helleborus multifidus, Helleborus odorus, Helleborus orientalis, Helleborus purpurascens, Helleborus torquatus and Helleborus viridis.
Dicarpon: The name of this section was derived from the fact that its only species was thought to be consistent in having just two maturing carpels. There is just one species in this section, Helleborus thibetanus. Its ability to hybridise with other species is, as yet, uncertain. |
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