Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Ranunculales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Helleborus viridis
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Lenten-rose from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Both living and dried plants of all species of Helleborus are extremely poisonous. Plants contain a cardiac glycoside (helleborin), which acts directly on the heart muscle, causing convulsions, delirium, and sometimes death. Poisoning from contaminated hay has been known to cause livestock fatalities. Read more at Flora of North America.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Helleborus viridis
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Helleborus viridis
SYNONYMOUS WITH Flora of North America
Helleborus viridis
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Helleborus viridis
COMMON NAME:
Lenten-rose, Green Hellebore, Christmas-rose
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_hevi_001_lvd
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JK Marlow jkm160311_197
March Greenville County SC
Riparian zone along urban waterway
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JK Marlow jkm160311_198
March Greenville County SC
Riparian zone along urban waterway
Primary leaves of mature (fertile) plants basal...
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JK Marlow jkm160311_198b
March Greenville County SC
Riparian zone along urban waterway
...(the stem with reduced, bracteal leaves subtending the inflorescence), per Weakley's Flora (2022).
)
JK Marlow jkm160311_198c
March Greenville County SC
Riparian zone along urban waterway
Sepals greenish, and sometimes variously pink- or white-tinted, per Weakley's Flora (2022).
)
JK Marlow jkm160311_201
March Greenville County SC
Riparian zone along urban waterway
All species of Helleborus have the potential to naturalize, per Weakley's Flora (2022).
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JK Marlow jkm160311_202b
March Greenville County SC
Riparian zone along urban waterway
Bracts subtending the inflorescence divided, serrate, per Weakley's Flora (2022).
)
JK Marlow jkm160311_204
March Greenville County SC
Riparian zone along urban waterway
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Helleborus viridis
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Helleborus viridis
FAMILY
Ranunculaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Helleborus viridis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Flora of North America
Helleborus viridis
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Helleborus viridis
3996
Forb
Perennial
Habitat: Cultivated in gardens, seeding down, escaped, persistent, and sometimes spreading aggressively near plantings, per Weakley's Flora
Non-native: Europe
Rare
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Evergreen
Palmately compound: 7-11 leaflets
Basal
Margins sharply serrate
FLOWER:
Winter/Spring
Sepals greenish, and sometimes variously pink- or white-tinted
Radially symmetrical
5 petaloid sepals
30-60 stamens
Superior ovary
Bisexual
FRUIT:
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
Or, to minimize chances of a misspelling, try just "Carex le".
Less is more: If "pencil flower" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "pencil".