History and Mythology
Historical Reference:
Helleborus have been utilized for medicinal purposes, they are associated with religious myths, and……..they continue to make great history in our gardens.
In ancient times Helleborus was used as medicine. Hippocrates applied Helleborus as a purgative and as a diuretic agent. Helleborus was also used in the treatment of mental diseases. In medieval times it was used to makes salves that witches used. Some thought of Helleborus as a source for the ‘fountain of youth’ that generations have searched for. Today the roots of Helleborus niger are used to treat cardiovascular disease. The ingredient derived from Helleborus is Helebrin.
In the year 600 B.C. Helleborus was used as a biological weapon and it helped win a war. The city of Kirrha was besieged by the Athenians under the leadership of Solon. The river of Pleisthenes was used for drinking water. They also used wells and rainwater for drinking. In periods of drought the shallow wells would go dry and the citizens needed to turn to the river for their drinking water. When the wells ran dry Solon issued an order to put Helleborus roots into the river to put the toxins from the roots into the water. The citizens drank the water, got a bad case of what we call ‘Montezuma’s Revenge’. So weakened, it became easy for the Athenians to conquer Kirrha!
Witches used pulverized Helleborus roots to drive out evil spirits. The pulverized root particles will stimulate sneezing. There is an ingredient in the roots called Protoanemonin that stimulates sneezing. Let’s look at the Latin origins of the genus name Helleborus. The name consists of the Greek word ‘helein’ which means ‘killing’ and ‘bora’ which means ‘for food.’ Many people died in the execution of these rituals.
As you would understand, none of these applications are recommended today. In fact, we recommend that gardeners and homeowners be aware that as is the case with many other garden plants, Helleborus can be mildly toxic if digested. There were many myths that have surrounded Helleborus over the years.
Some of the myths have religious associations. Species of the Helleborus genus are known as the ‘Christmas Rose.’ Some have given it this name because the niger varieties flower close to the Christmas season. There are also biblical associations with Helleborus. One of the stories states that a poor shepherd was on his way to Bethlehem to visit the Christ child. The story states that this shepherd did not have a gift for the child. It was winter and the shepherds could not even find any flowers along the way. It is said that he cried bitterly and as his tears touched the ground wonderful flowers as beautiful as roses sprung up from the ground. The shepherd took these “Christ Roses” and presented them to the Jesus child.
Helleborus are also known as the ‘Oracle Flower’. Helleborus obtained this name because it was used to predict the weather. Lore has it that people would cut twelve flowers of the ‘Christmas Rose’ and placed them into a vase. Each flowers symbolized one month of the following year. The weather was forecasted by the way the flowers did or did not open. Closed flowers represented bad weather for that month and open flowers represented good weather for that month.
As the earth developed ancestors of present day helleborus could be found in South Asia. Helleborus are limited on the northern hemisphere. The highest concentration of helleborus can be found around the Baltic Ocean and the coasts of the Black Sea. The changes in climate allowed the plant to develop the ability to delay growing and flowering time. Helleborus are able to reduce cell pressure in cold weather. This effect reverses itself when the temperature begins to rise. You can see this on a cold morning in the winter months. When you wake up on a frosty morning you will see many times that the leaves are hanging limp on the ground. As the temperatures rise the cells expand and allow the plant to rise up again.
Types of Helleborus:
There are two main groups of Helleborus. They are the caulescent and the acauslescent groups. The acaulescent species produces no stems while the caulescent species do produce stems. The rootstocks of the two groups are also different. The caulescent species cannot produce from division. The following list comes from Joseph Woodward (2006) and shows varieties in the two groups.
Caulescent:
• H. argutifolius
• H. foetidus
• H. Lividus
Caulescent / Acaulescent:
• H. niger
Acaulescent:
• H. abruzzicus
• H. atrorubens
• H. bocconei
• H. croaticus
• H. cyclophyllos
• H. dumentorum
• H. hercegovinus
• H. istriacus
• H. liguricus
• H. multifidus
• H. occidentalis
• H. odurus
• H. orientalis
• H. purpurascens
• H. thibetanus
• H. torquatus
• H. vesicarius
• H. viridis
Hybrids:
• H. x sternii
• H. x ericsmithii
• H. x nigercors
• H. x Ballardiae
• H. x glandorfii
Historical Reference:
Helleborus have been utilized for medicinal purposes, they are associated with religious myths, and……..they continue to make great history in our gardens.
In ancient times Helleborus was used as medicine. Hippocrates applied Helleborus as a purgative and as a diuretic agent. Helleborus was also used in the treatment of mental diseases. In medieval times it was used to makes salves that witches used. Some thought of Helleborus as a source for the ‘fountain of youth’ that generations have searched for. Today the roots of Helleborus niger are used to treat cardiovascular disease. The ingredient derived from Helleborus is Helebrin.
In the year 600 B.C. Helleborus was used as a biological weapon and it helped win a war. The city of Kirrha was besieged by the Athenians under the leadership of Solon. The river of Pleisthenes was used for drinking water. They also used wells and rainwater for drinking. In periods of drought the shallow wells would go dry and the citizens needed to turn to the river for their drinking water. When the wells ran dry Solon issued an order to put Helleborus roots into the river to put the toxins from the roots into the water. The citizens drank the water, got a bad case of what we call ‘Montezuma’s Revenge’. So weakened, it became easy for the Athenians to conquer Kirrha!
Witches used pulverized Helleborus roots to drive out evil spirits. The pulverized root particles will stimulate sneezing. There is an ingredient in the roots called Protoanemonin that stimulates sneezing. Let’s look at the Latin origins of the genus name Helleborus. The name consists of the Greek word ‘helein’ which means ‘killing’ and ‘bora’ which means ‘for food.’ Many people died in the execution of these rituals.
As you would understand, none of these applications are recommended today. In fact, we recommend that gardeners and homeowners be aware that as is the case with many other garden plants, Helleborus can be mildly toxic if digested. There were many myths that have surrounded Helleborus over the years.
Some of the myths have religious associations. Species of the Helleborus genus are known as the ‘Christmas Rose.’ Some have given it this name because the niger varieties flower close to the Christmas season. There are also biblical associations with Helleborus. One of the stories states that a poor shepherd was on his way to Bethlehem to visit the Christ child. The story states that this shepherd did not have a gift for the child. It was winter and the shepherds could not even find any flowers along the way. It is said that he cried bitterly and as his tears touched the ground wonderful flowers as beautiful as roses sprung up from the ground. The shepherd took these “Christ Roses” and presented them to the Jesus child.
Helleborus are also known as the ‘Oracle Flower’. Helleborus obtained this name because it was used to predict the weather. Lore has it that people would cut twelve flowers of the ‘Christmas Rose’ and placed them into a vase. Each flowers symbolized one month of the following year. The weather was forecasted by the way the flowers did or did not open. Closed flowers represented bad weather for that month and open flowers represented good weather for that month.
As the earth developed ancestors of present day helleborus could be found in South Asia. Helleborus are limited on the northern hemisphere. The highest concentration of helleborus can be found around the Baltic Ocean and the coasts of the Black Sea. The changes in climate allowed the plant to develop the ability to delay growing and flowering time. Helleborus are able to reduce cell pressure in cold weather. This effect reverses itself when the temperature begins to rise. You can see this on a cold morning in the winter months. When you wake up on a frosty morning you will see many times that the leaves are hanging limp on the ground. As the temperatures rise the cells expand and allow the plant to rise up again.
Types of Helleborus:
There are two main groups of Helleborus. They are the caulescent and the acauslescent groups. The acaulescent species produces no stems while the caulescent species do produce stems. The rootstocks of the two groups are also different. The caulescent species cannot produce from division. The following list comes from Joseph Woodward (2006) and shows varieties in the two groups.
Caulescent:
• H. argutifolius
• H. foetidus
• H. Lividus
Caulescent / Acaulescent:
• H. niger
Acaulescent:
• H. abruzzicus
• H. atrorubens
• H. bocconei
• H. croaticus
• H. cyclophyllos
• H. dumentorum
• H. hercegovinus
• H. istriacus
• H. liguricus
• H. multifidus
• H. occidentalis
• H. odurus
• H. orientalis
• H. purpurascens
• H. thibetanus
• H. torquatus
• H. vesicarius
• H. viridis
Hybrids:
• H. x sternii
• H. x ericsmithii
• H. x nigercors
• H. x Ballardiae
• H. x glandorfii
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