Syn.: Helleborus grandiflorus Salisb.
Family: Ranunculaceae Juss.
Distribution: Mountains of southern and southern part of Central Europe – Eastern Alps, Apennines, Dinarides.
Ecology: It grows on rocky slopes and shrubby hillsides, in woodlands and woodland margins, on limestone soils. It flowers from January (December) to March.
Description: A perennial herb with a short rhizome and erect stem, 15–30 cm high. The leaves are large, petiolate, pedate, leaflets 5 or more, cuneate-obovate, with coarsely serrated margin. The stem 1–2(–3)-flowered, the flowers are large, white, 5–8 cm in diameter. The fruit is a capsule.
Threat and Protection: The Black Hellebore is a protected plant in Austria and Germany.
Note: This species is often cultivated in the gardens. This plant is poisonous, it was used medicinally in former times.
These images were taken in Czechia, Brno and in Austria, in the vicinity of Mixnitz (by Ladislav Hoskovec, from 13. 1. to 22. 5. 2004) and Austria, Hochkar (by Filip Holáň, May 2009).
