Three Hellebores

Green Hellebore, Helleborus viridis.  High Elms Country Park, 13 March 2014.

Hellebores make excellent garden plants.  The tolerate shady, dry conditions and flower there when very few other plants will, and they flower early to give a cheerful start to the year.  There are many colour varieties in cultivation.  In the wild, you can usually only expect to see two species, though occasionally others pop up as garden escapes or purposeful introductions. 

There is a good stand of Green Hellebores at High Elms, visible from the road near Cuckoo Wood car park.  They look fresh and light green because the leaves are new each Spring.  These have nearly finished flowering.  The flowers are concealed inside those green sepals, and in most of these there is only the developing fruit.

Corsican Hellebore, Helleborus argutifolius, beside the railway track at Hayes Station.  2 February 2014.

There's a Corsican Hellebore beside the track on Hayes Station, visible from where I am typing this now, which is certainly a garden escape. 

Stinking Hellebore, Helleborus foetida.  Behind Leaves Green, 19 March 2014.

This is the other native species, rather less common.  The darker, thinner leaves on this plant are evergreen.  It was good to come across a patch here during a walk with the Orpington Field Club, but there is a lingering doubt over how natural this patch is.  Nearby there is a whole cluster of other species that are only found as garden escapes.  Maybe this area was used to dump garden waste.

Stinking Hellebore, Helleborus foetida.  Behind Leaves Green, 19 March 2014.

This closeup shows the distinctive purple lip to the sepals, and the young fruit within.