Helleborus viridis

Herbs , 1.2-3.5 dm. Stems fluted and ridged. Leaves 2-5 or more; basal leaves with petioles to 30cm; blades to 40cm wide, lobes 6-15, 2-cleft or incised, 6-21 × 1.5-4.2 cm, margins sharply serrate; cauline leaves similar to basal but smaller, sessile or short-petioled. Inflorescences: peduncles 2-5 cm. Flowers pendent, 35-60 mm diam.; sepals scarcely imbricate, 9-20 mm wide; petals upwardly curved, cornucopia-like with involute margins. Follicles 3-6, connate at base, swollen; body 14-25 mm; beak persistent.

Flowering winter-early spring (Dec-Mar). Waste places, abandoned gardens, shaded roadsides, and calcareous woodlands; 0-400m; introduced; Ill., Md., Mich., N.J., N.Y., Ohio, Pa., W.Va.; Europe.

This species is not as commonly planted as it once was, and most records are old.

Plants 2-4 dm; basal lvs long-petioled, divided into 7-11 sharply toothed segments; cauline smaller, with shorter petiole and fewer segments; bracts divided and somewhat leaf-like; fls green, 4-6 cm wide, on peduncles 2-5 cm; follicles connate at the base; 2n=32. Native of Europe, ±established here and there in our range. Earliest spring.

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

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