Authors:
Wild Distribution: N and C Italy; Liguria to Lazio; coastal; hills and foothills of northern Appenines.
Average Height: 45-60cm
Average Spread: 45-60cm
Life Cycle: Perennial
Plant Structure: Herb
Deciduous/Evergreen: Evergreen
Flower Colour: Whitish-green
Leaf Colour: Mid green
Sun/Shade: Partial Shade
Soil Type: Alkaline
Moisture: Well Drained
A recently described (2006) early-flowering hellebore with attractive, whitish scented flowers.
An evergreen hellebore to 60 cm with 1-5 leathery, green basal leaves to 45 cm in diameter. Leaves pedately cut into 9-14 (-21) serrate to coarsely dentate lanceolate leaflets, each 10-20 x 4-6 cm, leaflet junctions brownish. Stems green and hairy, to 60 cm, bearing 3-7 patent whitish-green flowers, each 5-7 cm diameter, strongly scented; stamens cream; carpels 3-5, erect, green, fused basally. Flowering November-March, rather later in cultivation.
Evergreen oak woodland and rocky pastures on limestone, to 1000m, endemic to mostly coastal areas of NW and C Italy. Related to the more widespread Italian H. bocconei, but larger, with fewer leaf segments and larger, flatter, whitish, more precocious flowers. Somewhat resembles large ('odorus') forms of H. cyclophyllus, but earlier and with larger, whiter flowers. An attractive and potentially useful garden plant, presently (2018) scarce in cultivation.
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