The Lenten Rose – Hellebore of the Levant
You’ve seen these plants and probably haven’t given them a much thought. They are found growing throughout gardens in Eureka Springs, easily seen on the beds along the sidewalk at Crescent Spring next to the Carnegie Library. They bloom from late winter to early spring with green to yellow to purplish saucer-shaped flowers about two inches across, some spread open, others with petals hugged into a bell-shaped display.
This perennial has tough evergreen leaves more or less in a horseshoe-shaped arrangement, and is the perfect alien garden plant. They thrive on neglect, needing little care. They persist, yet don’t spread into adjacent native plant habitats, and they bloom when little else is in flower.
They are commonly called “Christmas rose” or “Lenten rose,” though they have nothing to do with roses. They are members of the buttercup family – hellebores in the genus Helleborus. It is called ‘Christmas” rose as it blooms as early as Christmas, and “Lenten rose” because it is usually still in bloom during Lent.
There are 15 species and ten subspecies in the genus Helleborus, native to Europe, especially southeastern Europe in the home of classical cultures. One species occurs in China. The one most common in our gardens is Helleborus orientalis, named by French botanist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck in 1789, who called it Hellébore du Levant, having described it from plants collected in the eastern Mediterranean mountains of present day Turkey.
Helleborus orientalis, originating in Western Asia, Caucasus and Southeastern Europe, is closely related to, or confused with Helleborus niger, black hellebore. Known since ancient times as medicine and poison, it contains the cardiac glycoside hellborin, which directly affects heart muscles and can cause convulsions, delerium and depending upon the dose, death. Both the dried and fresh root are toxic. The root, as described in ancient markets, is black, hence the name black hellebore.
Helleborus orientalis was first collected by Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1654-1708) during his travels to the Levant (today’s Near East or Middle East) and the Caucasus in 1701-1702. He speculated that it was the hellebore of the ancients, not the more familiar Helleborus niger of the Alps. As a result, before 1789 our Lenten rose was known as Helleborus officinalis rather than Helleborus orientalis.
Enjoy the flowers while they last. We, like Tournefort, are pleased when we meet with a plant that is new to us, even if we have passed by it a hundred times.