Green Hellebore One of the small delights of spring has
been the wild English hellebore: a green-flowered miniature of the Christmas rose. There are two English species, and this, viridis, is the smaller. Sowerby and in fact most authorities speak of it as rare, Sowerby mentioning only two localities for it at the end of the eighteenth century, but it seems to be fairly common in Kentish chalk woods, growing under much the same conditions as the white helleborine, a charming little June ghost-orchid with which it is not to be -confused. Against the pure solid white Christmas roses and the warm claret-green Lenten roses, this tiny green species might be expected to look insignificant: yet in fact all its charm comes from exactly those filings, its tininess and its greenness. Its colour lacks dullness and solidity. Very soft, it has a sort of satin transparence. It looks neutral, and yet is very alive and delicate, and the cream ring of stamens gives it a neat flow of friendliness.
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