The slightly less common helleborus foetidus (stinking hellebore) differs from helleborus viridis in its darker green leaflets, by having purple margins to the sepals, and by its strong smell
Common name:
Green hellebore
Family:
Scientific name:
Helleborus viridis
Main flower color:
Range:
England and Wales, and southern Scotland. Native but also present in some places as a garden escape
Height:
Up to 60 cm
Habitat:
Well-established woodland, on calcium-rich soils
Flowers:
Five green sepals, blunt-pointed at the tip, surround a centre of green nectaries, green carpels and longer stamens, which have green filaments and white anthers. Flowers are fairly flat when mature, not cup-shaped. The plant is odourless
Leaves:
Palmate in appearance; leaflets (seven to 11) are ovate, hairless and lined by sharp teeth
Season:
February to April
Rarity:
★★★★★
